Steven Okoth Opuge

Kenya kwisha supporters expected Edwin Sifuna to do what Ruto does, make grand promises that border on outright lies… “In 6 months time, I will give free diapers, free phone calls, free internet, build 1,000 dams and water pans, create millions of jobs overnight, build tens of stadiums across the country etc.” Sifuna chose a different path. Instead of promising miracles, he is promising to fix what is broken in our country by building a government that listens to its people, respects the rule of law, upholds democratic values, inspires investor confidence, creates opportunity and dignity for all and protects the life and rights of every Kenyan (“We will not kill our young people, no one will be arrested for tweeting, we will not teargas churches”) As he aptly puts it, “We in Linda Mwananchi are software engineers.” In other words, instead of making unrealistic promises about the hardware, he will first fix the software that runs the system. The first commitment is to cut wasteful public expenditure and eliminate extravagance in government. The savings should then be used to ease the burden on ordinary Kenyans, particularly by reducing the burden of taxation. Sifuna acknowledges that prosperity does not begin with grand campaign promises, but with good governance. He also readily acknowledges that no leader can be an expert in everything or know everything. That is why he is committed to listening to the people, and also to experts, professionals and practitioners across different sectors to develop practical solutions that will move Kenya forward.