Omtatah Urges Raila and Ruto to Prioritize Kenyans in Dialogue
Senator Okiya Omtatah of Busia has called for dialogue between President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Omtatah stated that the negotiations should prioritize Kenyan sovereignty over international corporations.
Omtatah told Citizen TV on Tuesday that the current impasse has held the nation to ransom and that Kenya has continued to depreciate relative to its neighbors.
He stated that when President Ruto assumed power, the Ksh was worth 36 Ush per 1 Ksh. However, it has depreciated from 20 Kenyan Shillings to 1 Ugandan Shilling, shedding 16 points against Uganda.
“Kenya is losing value relative to its neighbors. Are we taking no action or are we taking the incorrect actions? We’re becoming more impoverished than our neighbors, our economy is contracting, and our investors are perishing,” he stated.
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He stated that the nation is on autopilot and urged the two leaders to prioritize their discussions on how to save the nation from its external obligations.
Omtatah stated, “When they meet, I would like the issue of article 1 of our Constitution to take precedence, namely that the people are sovereign and not the IMF or the World Bank.”
“Let’s take our country back from these two institutions and organize our finances and run our economy as it should be run, for the benefit of Kenyans and not multinational corporations.”
Ruto stated on Sunday that the government will not borrow money to cover its expenses.
He stated that he has held several meetings with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other major creditors to prevent the country from incurring additional debts.
“We must be honest with ourselves. We cannot continue to run our country on debt because, for the past eight months, I’ve had the difficult task of stabilizing the economy. After all, we were headed in the incorrect direction with too much debt,” he said.
Omtatah Urges Raila and Ruto to Prioritize Kenyans in Dialogue
