Deputy President William Ruto has started making pledges which he intends to fulfill if elected president in 2022.
Speaking in Mtwapa on Sunday, February 7, DP Ruto promised to establish a Ksh 29 billion fund that would benefit small-scale traders like handcart pushers, grocery vendors and boda boda operators.
He explained that the fund would issue interest-free loans to support businesses and raise their standards of living.
He compared the proposed kitty to the National Government Constituency Development Fund which allocates Ksh 100 million to all constituencies annually.
He stated that in his Ksh 29 billion pledge, all 290 constituencies would get an extra Ksh 100 million.
Supporting small scale traders to expand their businesses, he said, would increase the government’s revenue base.
“When I talk about changing the way things are done in this country to help the small traders, some people get angry with me. I do not say what I do not know. I have thought about it and I know it can be done,” he told his supporters.
The Deputy President also defended the hustler tag, which his rivals accused of being turned into a movement of unruly citizens fuelling a class war.
“We are not violent people. I want to change the way we are doing politics in this country by giving serious priority to the small man,” he spoke.
One of the biggest critics of the hustler movement is ODM leader Raila Odinga who accuses Ruto of hoodwinking Kenyans to believe he is a commoner.
“The word hustler has been taken out of context. Some people are using it to hoodwink the youth who continue to languish in poverty and wallow in a state of hopelessness for their own personal gain. Youths must stand up and fight for their rights.
“The idea of a hustler and dynasty does not exist in our country. All the leaders that we have had before are all hustlers. What is so special about somebody, because he was selling chicken? How does that make you different from President Kibaki who was a turn boy and Mzee Kenyatta who was a meter reader?” Odinga questioned during a meeting with officials of Kenya Universities Students' Organisation (KUSO).
