Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has told Kenyans that they should not expect quick fixes to sort out the country's economic mess.
The prime CS said it will take the Kenya Kwanza administration not less than two years to steady the country's economy and for Kenyans to start enjoying the fruits of such a turnaround.
Mudavadi told MPs on Wednesday that addressing the country’s problems would not happen immediately “like making instant coffee”.
He spoke while responding to questions from MPs on the floor of the house.
While responding to a question by Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan, the prime CS said the government has no control over other external factors contributing to the high cost of living.
Hassan had sought the CS's response on the interventions the government is making to lower the cost of basic commodities.
“We are in this for the long haul because of the public debt and the Ukraine-Russia war,” Mudavadi said.
He said the two are partly contributing to the high cost of living in the country.
“We have no capacity to determine when the war will end. We have to be realistic ... It will take a bit of time but no situation is permanent,” Mudavadi added.
He said the government has taken initiatives to lower the cost of living including waiving duty for imported food items, increasing agricultural production for staple foods, cutting down on imports and planting drought-resistant crops.
Mudavadi said the duty waivers are to ensure the supply of food items and stabilise prices that are skyrocketing.
He said the government had granted a duty waiver for the importation of 1.4 million metric tonnes of white maize.
Some 600,000 metric tonnes of rice and 500,000 metric tonnes of yellow maize to be used for the production of animal feed have also been ordered.
According to Mudavadi, duty had also been waived for 200,000 metric tonnes of soya beans, 300,000 metric tonnes of soya bean meal, 1, 600 of assorted protein concentrate and 40,000 metric tonnes of feed additive which took effect in February.
He said the waivers will last until August when the country is expecting its first harvest.
Mudavadi said over 250 tonnes of assorted drought-tolerant seeds worth Sh50 million have been distributed in Embu, Meru, Makueni Machakos, Nyeri, Siaya, Tharaka Nithi, Murang’a and Busia counties.