The Differences Between President Uhuru and Raila 27 October 2013 By Collins Mabinda The Star Emotions usually flare up whenever a contrast is drawn between President Uhuru Kenyatta, and his long time political adversary, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. But I think when you peel those emotions aside; both of them care deeply about the country, only that they have different views on how to achieve that vision. President Uhuru Kenyatta is a staunch conservative, who is friendly with the business community, and also favours a much leaner government. That is why many believe that his cronies have been quietly sabotaging the devolution process. For him, a leaner government that offers opportunities for enterprising Kenyans to make their livelihood will guarantee wealth and job creation. He favours a more tax friendly regime in return that businesses are able to create more jobs. The only problem is that if the so called trickle down does not reach the common mwananchi, it ends up creating a few billionaires amidst a sea of poverty. This is why Railas supporters would term his views as greedy and elitist. On the other hand, Raila Odinga has made it known, times without number, that he favours more devolution, and would like to see some kind of redistribution from the centre. Many layers of government would likely increase taxes for us, but in the same breadth, county governments would be empowered to invest in projects that would boost job creation. However, Uhurus supporters would see that as people depending on government handouts and being lazy, which would not be tenable in the long run. A few weeks ago, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Robert Shiller of Yale University, Eugene F. Fama of the University of Chicago, and Lars Peter Hansen of the University of Chicago. Robert Shiller has spent his life showing how the stock market is incorrect and could collapse; on the other hand, Eugene F. Fama has spent his life opposing Shillers ideas. Hansen has been somewhere in between. Just as the Nobel committee showed that there could be different paths to the same destination, it would be surprising, but not incorrect, to say that President Uhuru Kenyatta (extreme right), Raila Odinga (extreme left), and William Ruto, somewhere in the middle, have different, but grand visions for the country.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 09:38:44 +0000
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