Ruto welcomes Raila to hustler narrative bandwagon but warns him not to dish out handouts
By Substone Osoro, October 16, 2021
Deputy President William Ruto has on Saturday October 16, 2021 conditionally invited his political nemesis Raila Odinga, to the hustler narrative bandwagon.
Ruto, who was speaking at a rally in Kongowea market in Mombasa County, claimed that there has been a paradigm shift in the political discourse in the country.
Ruto vaunted that his clarion call for the betterment of the lives of the downtrodden has shifted Raila’s focus politically.
“When we told our competitors that the political debate in Kenya will take a paradigm shift, they did not believe us. Today they have all accepted that we must focus as a country on empowering hustlers and improving the economy,” Ruto said.
According to him, the former premier is now vouching for policies that are akin to those he champions for through his bottom-up economic model, an economic approach he says is geared at supporting SMEs.
The DP however took a swipe at the ODM supremo, accusing him of pushing for a short-term solution to the problems grappling the small businesses sector.
Ruto stated that Raila’s offer of Ksh6,000 monthly stipend to jobless youths, is not only unsustainable but also a re-introduction of the failed trickle down economic approach.
He termed Raila’s offer as a continuity of the handouts culture that has left a section of Kenyans self-insufficient and over dependant on the political class.
“Raila has succumbed to pressure and is now speaking about growing the economy. I welcome him to the hustler narrative bandwagon but he should shun from propagating a handout culture. Hustlers need money to support their businesses and to improve their lives, not handouts,” he said.