DP Ruto has said that Kenyan country is faced with challenges and huge track record of what he has achieved but there is tremendous opportunity for more to be achieved and thought of vying as the fifth President because he felt that it is a mama mboga moment, a country where 5 million people are not working, 15 million people blacklisted in CRB, 10 million citizens who have no access to micro credit or finance and he believes he is the right candidate to take Kenya to the next level.
Speaking during a 2022 Presidential Debate, DP Ruto confirmed that Kenyans are going through hard economic times due to the high cost of living, where he said that subsidies can alleviate problems to an extent, but certain things were not implemented through the Big Four Agenda they had as Jubilee government that included; agriculture, nutrition and food security, unfortunately it fell apart and was sabotaged hence Kenyans find themselves in a situation of high cost of living since the government didn’t capitalize agricultural sector, removed subsidized fertilizer that existed as he said that to deal with high cost of living the government has to increase agricultural produce where farmers have access to agricultural inputs, have necessary capital to enable them do farming, access to markets, unfortunately this was not done that is why the country is where it is, as Kenya Kwanza he said in their plan they have put in place shs 30 B revolving funds to ensure that farmers have access to farm inputs, added shs 12 B expenditure on agricultural extension for it is important for farmers to get latest information to increase productivity. He blamed the handshake and BBI on the shelving of the Big Four Agenda. He revealed that President Uhuru wanted time to do things differently in the second term hence assembled a new group of people to work with so never implemented their Agenda as planned.
DP Ruto said that the Galana Kulalu dam project stopped since questions were raised on the tendering and awarding of contracts and by the time the issue was to be addressed the handshake came in hence nothing was done.
On the increased price of fuel, DP Ruto said the tax on petroleum products has to be looked at therefore as a country it should check on how else revenue can be raised where the majority of taxes on fuel should be put aside and limit taxation on fuel i.e VAT since it is the latest. He said his government can renegotiate with development partners on the terms that are suitable for the country, how fuel subsidy funds are deployed, whether it is giving value or not and what changes can be made.
On debts, he said as Kenya Kwanza they have plans to slow down on borrowing, remove un-budgeted projects, raise revenue where there is room to raise additional money to reduce debts saying Kenya is living beyond its means. He said in the first term as Jubilee government they had borrowed shs 2.2 trillion, from 2017, handshake brothers borrowed shs 4.2 trillion.
Ruto said that BBI was a complete waste of resources and was not made in good faith. He said a constitutional change that seeks to undermine the independence of the Judiciary is a dangerous change. He said his opponent has no clarity on what he wants to do for Kenyans that is why he ran away form the debate because he couldn’t answer some of the questions that were asked.
The UDA Presidential candidate said that the Arror and Kimwarer dam project was signed at the same time with other projects and the President of Kenya witnessed the signing and promised to complete the project if elected President. He said he is looking forward to the day somebody will step forward and tell the country how a government can lose shs 20B that was supposed to build Arror and Kimwarer dam and yet nothing has been done on the ground as he alleged that the project never failed but was meant to fail just to punish him thus it was political.
On violence in some regions like Marsabit, Elgeyo Markwet and neighbouring areas he said is caused by competition for resources; water, pasture, matters education and the reason why Jubilee government had a plan to construct a dam to provide water and sufficiently roll out irrigation.
He said that the fact that Kenya does not have many women leaders is a negative for the country where he said there is something that Kenya is losing as he added that having women leadership would enrich governance as a nation.
He said he will accept the outcome of the August polls and if he has any doubt will go to court.
David Mwaure, Agano party Presidential candidate, said leadership is God-given and he wants to become the next President of Kenya because he believes the 9th August election requires a new champ.
He said that it is now 59 years since independence and Kenya can’t continue being a nation of begging therefore should be self sufficient in terms of food, water and medicine.
Mwaure too said that as he takes over the leadership of this country he is going to introduce subsidies into food products, reduce PAYE by 50% so that Kenyans can have money to take home, as he added that he is going to waiver tax penalties and also allocate money into the economy to spur growth.
He said he is different from other Presidential candidates since the promises they are giving are promises they have given in the previous elections.
On corruption, Mwaure said that he has had opportunities to steal because he was appointed at top level positions but chose not to be corrupt and said that stealing is a lifestyle.
He said that Kenyans should demand to know how much money was used to construct SGR and how much was lost in the KEMSA scandal and the people behind the scandals as he alleged that DP Ruto and Raila Odinga know the culprits and wondered why they haven’t fought such corruption.
David Mwaure said Kenya has more that shs 20T outside the country and need to be brought back in order to turn the country around as he added that as he will take over power he will be going for international countries that are holding Kenyan money.
The Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Presidential candidate Raila Odinga and Roots Party leader George Wajackoyah never attended the debate. Wajackoya turned up for the debate but left shortly after his demands of participating in the debate with the other three candidates at once failed.