Greetings, Mr President. Sir, please allow me to wish you a wondrous Mashujaa Day in advance. And, Mr President, may I inform you that it pleases me no end to meet you hapa Mukuru Kwa Zuckenberg. When you begin reading newspapers we might meet on Sundays.
Mr President, as you prepare to address us on Tuesday, permit me to let you in on what your people are saying here at Mukuru Kwa Zuckenberg, on the matatus and in mansions, on the streets and in the salons, in the hotels and hovels and in Karen and Kariadudu.
The people perceive the economy to be headed south even as the International Monetary Fund is saying we are on track to becoming Africa’s fastest growing economy. What Kenyans are seeing are high interest rates, which are making borrowing far too expensive.
What your people are seeing is a government that spends, spends and spends. Then it borrows, borrows and borrows again, and, then, it spends, spends and spends again. Your people are saying there are only three things that are certain in Kenya today.
One is that the government will borrow. Two is that the government will spend. Three is that ordinary Kenyans will pick up the bill. This bill, Mr President, of course means high interest rates, inflation and unavailability of credit for small businesses.
Mr President, Kenyans are beginning to compare their country with Greece. In fact, some are saying that the government is broke and like the Greek one before the meltdown, it is living beyond its means. Kindly, sir, address this matter on Mashujaa Day.
Mr President, your people are saying you appear not to have the bottle for the battle against corruption which you launched in Parliament early in the year during your rousing and well received State of the Nation address.
Why, Mr President? The people you fingered, especially Cabinet Secretaries, have been cleared of wrong-doing save for one who has been charged and another who has been arraigned on a totally different matter. They don’t work, but they get paid.
Mr President from the reports of the Auditor General, the Controller of Budget and others, corruption has run rampant in the national and county governments. Please, sir, revisit this matter on Mashujaa Day.
And while at it, Mr President, your people have rounded on you, accusing you of not suspending CS Ann Waiguru under whose docket falls the National Youth Service (NYS) where taxpayer money is reported to have been looted.
I know NYS is your pet project. Mr President I have supported it in my Sunday Nation column. It will not enrich your legacy, sir, if it is perceived to be a conduit for siphoning taxpayer money. Mr President, corruption, profligate spending and wastage in government go hand in hand. Your work is cut out.
Last Mr President, your people are watching with apprehension the goings on in the political arena. We pay you to make tough decisions. If you have decided, sir, that we should relive, remember, recall, rewind, re-enact the pain, tears, bloodletting, burning and maiming of 2007/2008, that’s your call.
Personally, I would wish you stopped these malice-laden and hate-filled political rallies branded prayer meetings and concentrate all your efforts on three things: fixing the economy, fixing the economy and fixing the economy.
By the way, why do you not talk about Vision 2030 anymore? It is supposed to transform Kenya into a Middle Income Country with a high quality of life for its people by 2030.
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