- President says thanks to his policies, the country’s economic situation was on a firm footing and the future is promising
- Inflation numbers have more than halved and the foreign exchange rates are no longer volatile
Image: PCS
President William Ruto has hinted at easing the tax burden upon Kenyans going into the future.
In an interview with CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour, Ruto pointed at exploring cheaper, long-term loans to fund his development agenda.
“We are working with the international community to find concessional funding, long term at scale to manage our situation, to manage the debt situation,” Ruto said.
Thanks to his policies, the country’s economic situation was on a firm footing and the future is promising.
Inflation numbers have more than halved and the foreign exchange rates are no longer volatile, he added.
“As I talk to you, inflation is down from nine to 4.3 per cent, our exchange rate is now stable and we are able to do more going forward without pushing hard on what the people can accommodate.”
The stance came a few hours before United State’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged Washington’s support for Ruto’s economic programmes, intimating it will pump billions to see them take off.
“We look forward to...how we can work together even more, particularly to help support your economic programmes and economic growth, as well as the important work for the Kenyan people,” Blinken said during a meeting with Ruto on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.
The Head of State also defended police use of force and deploying military troops to the streets during youth-led protests, arguing that only anarchists were targeted with lethal force.
Security forces acted within the law as criminal gangs had hijacked the protests and caused mayhem.
“Kenya is a robustly democratic country and protests are part of our democracy; the freedom of people to choose what to do and that is perfectly in order. Restoring law and order is part of the responsibilities of law enforcement agencies,” he said.
“What was in Nairobi was, apart from the protests...criminal gangs, that burnt down Parliament, burnt down the Chief Justice’s office, burnt down people’s property. Those, like happens everywhere in the world, had to be managed by our security agencies.”
Overzealous officers, who may have stepped their bounds and acted outside of the law, will be held accountable through the lawful means, including using IPOA to pursue them.
“Any excesses that may have occurred, we have an independent policing oversight authority that investigates and take those who may have overstepped their mandate to account. What happened in Kenya was perfectly in order,” Ruto said.
The President also explained the social unrest in the country as being a result of climate change and the debt situation that have strained life.
“We are trying to manage a situation. We have serious debt issues, a world that has serious climate issues - we swung from drought to floods [and] we are trying to mobilise resources with different actors,” he said.
“If it does not work, we try a different way. Kenya is now stable, we are moving into the future in a predictable, orderly manner because we are a democracy.”
He also blamed false information for the public rejection of the tax law, adding that going forward, he will enhance public communication.
“Part of the situation you saw was occasioned by misinformation, fake news and many other aspects of the protests. More explanation is going into our strategy going into the future.”
Blinken lauded Kenya for its involvement in the police mission in Haiti.
“I just want to again thank you for Kenya’s remarkable leadership of the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti,” Blinken said
“I was in Haiti a couple of weeks ago and saw for myself Kenya’s leadership on the ground.”
Blinken noted that despite regional challenges in Africa, Kenya is playing an essential leadership role.