President Ruto Reprimands Raila for  Returning Maandamano

President Ruto Reprimands Raila for Returning Maandamano

President Ruto Reprimands Raila for Returning Maandamano

President William Ruto has pushed Raila Odinga, the head of Azimio, to present solutions to the problems facing the nation rather than calling for widespread rallies, which he claims will further depress Kenya’s already fragile economy.Speaking at the funeral of Nyandarua senator John Methu’s father, Michael Waweru, the president made fun of the opposition for criticizing the administration but providing no real alternatives.

Ruto said during his speech that Raila was using the threat of bringing back Maandamano as a means of intimidation to force the administration to give in to the demands of the opposition.The leader of the opposition said on Saturday that if the government doesn’t abolish the Finance Act 2023, mass action (Maandamano) would resume in 2024.

Let me advise the opposition to inform Kenyans of their alternatives rather than attempting to incite violence. People are expected to pay taxes so that we can settle our debt. Don’t tell us that bringing maandamano will stop businesses and cause bloodshed; how will it benefit Kenyans?” Ruto asked a question.

“Well, let’s stop using these coercive methods. If you have any other strong opinions, please share them with us. However, observe that this opposition has no plans at all. The costs of commodities are starting to decline, notwithstanding their reputation for wearing sufurias on their heads while farmers were hard at work on their farms.”

In addition, the head of state stated that his administration would not back down from tax concerns since they are essential to keeping the nation out of financial crisis.”We must make up for the errors committed by those who came before us. Debt is our biggest issue, not taxes. Truth-telling is not what people want to hear. This has led to so many countries going into default and not knowing how to escape these situations,” he said.

“I can’t let Kenya go a path that will damage Kenya’s reputation. I would like to inform our people that we will become the property of those who  lend to us if we do not learn to restrain our hunger for borrowing.” Ruto cited previous president Mwai Kibaki’s call to action during his time in office,  in which he asked Kenyans to contribute fairly to the national coffers so that the  nation might become self-sufficient.

“No single country has ever experienced its destruction due to taxation. He said, “The truth is that their taxes have built many nations, and that is where we need to go. Kibaki said that being self-sufficient means paying taxes. He supported the introduction of VAT and nearly four tax increases. We strayed from that path along the road and stopped to get loans.”