Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and President William Ruto /FILE
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has slammed leaders propagating negative criticism against the government’s implementation of its programs, projects and policies.
Mudavadi told off critics, terming them as enemies of progress and suffering from intellectual insecurity, with no focus or agenda for Kenyans.
“There are people out there who are so worried about anything they see the government doing. Even when they see the President talking to someone, they get so scared and afraid. What remains for them is now to tell lies and propaganda to the citizens to turn against the government,” Mudavadi said.
“Even here there are people who are so worried even if the bishop is talking to the neighbour, the man is so worried that he is going to ask the bishop what was he telling you? Because in his imagination he thinks that they were talking about him. So, there are so many who suffer from this sense of insecurity, they always imagine that when other people talk, they are up to something against them.”
Mudavadi spoke during the burial of Baringo Senator William Cheptumo in Bartabwa, Baringo County.
He said the leaders who have recently used the broad-based government initiative by President William Ruto to downplay the progress being made by the current administration are the ones fueling negative energy within Kenyans.
Mudavadi said a section of leaders are misleading Kenyans that nothing is happening in relation to the actualization of the prioritized projects and deliverables to the citizens under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), and the Kenya Kwanza manifesto as the blue print of development delivery under President William Ruto’s administration.
“Right now, the global geopolitics, shifting international priorities and changing global dynamics clearly show that there is a crisis and the era of freebies is gone. When the government is working on putting in place measures and policies that will help drive our economy internally, others are busy castigating any single initiative being undertaken,” Mudavadi said.
“I urge Kenyans not to listen to such leaders, especially the politicians, but instead let us pull together and address the challenges we are facing in various sectors since no one is coming to help us build Kenya, we have to look for our resources to fund our programs and projects.”
The Prime CS said the situation in which the country finds itself at the moment calls for tough and well thought-out decisions, some of which will be painful in the short-term, but beneficial in the long term.
He called on Kenyans to support President Ruto’s agenda for the country by remaining patriotic, forthright and focused rather than being distracted by the side shows.
“This is not the time to do politics with the lives of the people. It is time to put our heads together and see how we can attract trade and investment to our country to help raise resources, grow the economy and create jobs,” Mudavadi stated.
Mudavadi gave an example of the looming global health funding crisis as a result of the dwindling international financial commitments, saying Kenya must rise to the occasion and face this reality as the era of donor-driven healthcare programs is fading.
His remarks come at a time when the government is working towards ensuring a flawless implementation of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program.
He noted that the country’s proactive approach to healthcare reform has placed it ahead of the global curve in securing sustainable health financing.
“Was it a premonition or what was it that Kenya was a step ahead? We introduced Universal Healthcare and worked on the program, which was initially vilified and castigated. But what lesson do we learn now? The world is telling us that we have to take care of our own sick. We can no longer wait for foreign aid,” he stated.
