The opposition is threatening to shoot down the national dialogue committee report if it does not conclusively tackle the cost of living.
Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leaders on Saturday, November 4th, 2023 said they would oppose the report, expected at the end of this month if it did not offer concrete resolutions on the cost of living.
The National Dialogue Committee co-chair and Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka said that the cost of living issue would be a dealbreaker, even as he urged lawmakers to take action if Azimio’s demands were ignored.
“The country is expecting some hope. We will be watching to see if they refuse to listen to the pleas of hungry Kenyans. The right to a decent life is constitutionally guaranteed,” said the Wiper leader.
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino urged Kalonzo not to “cede ground” in the talks, saying that it would be a betrayal if a subject that took Kenyans to the streets in protests would be ignored.
“Even in the previous talks, I was sent to discuss the cost of unga. We will shoot down the report if it doesn’t include the cost of living. The cost of unga and electricity must come down. The country is crying out for leadership with empathy, with the capacity to be ashamed when things are shameful,” said Nairobi Senator and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna.
Sifuna said it was shameful that corruption still thrived as Kenyans bore the brunt of the cost of living.
“How do we overburden Kenyans with higher taxes and still steal from them? Kenya is facing a deep leadership crisis,” questioned Sifuna.
The coalition also demanded answers over the wastage unearthed by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o when she met the committee last week, blaming the high living costs on systemic corruption.
Kalonzo termed Nyakang’o’s revelations of the three-fold overbudgeting of salaries in the government “very shocking”, stating that Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u should provide answers.
“The COB came to us and spoke as an expert, complete with tabulations and figures. We are waiting for an explanation on the heist in government,” Kalonzo said during a fundraising function held on the 25th anniversary of the Umoja II SDA church in Nairobi.
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