President William Ruto, his deputy Rigathi Gachagua and other stakeholders were, on Tuesday, October 11, locked in a seven hours meeting that went past midnight in a bid to revive the economy.
Speaking during the launch of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms, Gachagua detailed that they resolved to raise Ksh3 trillion for the development budget after the midnight meeting.
"So don't give up! All is not lost despite the fact that we have a difficult situation we are working on it, and everybody is coming along and in the fullness of time, we will turn around the economy of this country," Gachagua stated.
According to the second in command, the money raised was being diverted to wage bills and servicing public debts.
Gachagua maintained that the situation had made it difficult for Ruto's government to fund his development programs.
In his projection, the Kenya Kwanza government will revive the country's economy in the next two years.
"For the avoidance of doubt, we have inherited a dilapidated economy, and we have work to do to turn around the economy of this country," the former Mathira MP remarked.
His sentiments came days after Ruto ordered Treasury to slash Ksh300 billion from 2022/2023 budget to relieve Kenyans from spending and borrowing pressure.
In his address to a joint Parliamentary sitting, Ruto reiterated that cutting the funds was critical in helping his government deliver on their pledges.
"To this end, I have instructed Treasury to work with Ministries to find at least Ksh300 billion in this year’s budget so that we can remove it because the market cannot sustain the kind of borrowing we are doing as government." Ruto told the legislators.
The measures came amid pressure from the opposition led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to fulfil his 100 days promises.
While addressing Bunge la Mwananchi on Tuesday, October 11, Raila hit out at Ruto, noting that he will not blame former President Uhuru Kenyatta for his failures.
He further castigated the President for withdrawing the subsidy programme, which cushioned Kenyans from the high costs of living.
"We will give them 100 days and wait and see what they will do. They used to blame Uhuru, and yet the former president was facing the same challenges as world leaders," Raila stated.
