Seasoned political analyst Herman Manyora has advised Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and his group against participating in empowerment forums, as recently witnessed, urging them to focus instead on their oversight role in government.

Speaking during an interview on his channel on Monday, August 11, 2025, Manyora criticised leaders like Sifuna and Caleb Amisi for engaging in empowerment programmes, which he views as counterproductive.

“You saw Caleb Amisi Sifuna and the rest trying empowerment programmes. How can you compete, Kina Farouk? You have been saying it’s the wrong thing, then you go and do it again. You can’t do it right. This country should avoid the idea of giving handouts to people. People don’t need handouts,” Manyora stated.

He questioned how they expect to compete with others like Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and Farouk Kibet, who have huge financial muscles that enable them to bankroll such programmes.

End to handouts

Manyora emphasised that the country should move away from giving handouts to citizens, arguing that people do not need such handouts but rather quality public services. He called on progressive leaders, including Sifuna and Amisi, to prioritise pushing the government to provide quality healthcare and free, quality education instead of relying on empowerment handouts.

“Progressive leaders like Sifuna Caleb Amisi and the rest, yours is to push the government into providing quality healthcare and free quality education to citizens, not handouts. We will be relying on such young progressive legislators to put an end to the habit where people steal our money and go and parade it in the name of the empowerment forum,” he added.

Strengthening oversight

He further urged young progressive legislators in both the National Assembly and Senate to unite and demand transparency from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) by requesting tax records of individuals or groups who claim to have given out large sums of money in empowerment initiatives.

Manyora suggested that if KRA refuses to provide this information, they should take the matter to the High Court to obtain an order compelling the authority to disclose the tax details.

“Instead of coming together in the name of empowerment, they should get all the young progressive leaders in the National Assembly and in the Senate to go to KRA and tell them so-and-so has given out Ksh60 million. We want to know their tax records, because for a person who gives out Ksh60 million, then he must be a good taxpayer,” he added.