Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has declared he will vie for the presidency in 2022, marking the start of a fresh movement promising Kenyans jobs, economic freedom, and unity if elected.

Declaring his interest to be the country’s fifth President and launching “Fresh Movement,” at a colourful ceremony in Mlolongo, the Maendeleo Chap Chap leader said things were not right in the country and will never be so “unless we change the leaders who lead us”.

“We are at a cross road. The development and future of our lives lie in our hands. We cannot continue to be a country with so much brain power, so many human and physical resources, so many blessings by God but continue to suffer every day,” Dr Mutua said.

The governor who is serving his second term and hailed by supporters for being development conscious and untainted, joins Deputy President William Ruto among those who have indicated they will go for the top seat in 2022. 

Although ODM leader Raila Odinga is yet to announce if he will vie or not, his key allies believe he will also be in the race.

Others being mentioned among the contenders are Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi, Kanu chairman Gideon Moi, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth and former Cabinet Minister Mwangi Kiunjuri.

Dr Mutua said Kenyans wanted a leader who does not have a baggage, who is not divisive, one who does not keep grudges and one who will lead them despite their tribal, regional, economic and social status.

Thanking the country’s past leaders for their efforts, Dr Mutua added that Kenyans want change, a fresh start and growth.

The country’s independence heroes “gave us political freedom and democracy. It is now time for economic freedom with Alfred Mutua a safe pair of hands.”

“I, therefore, declare that in the General Elections of 2022, Alfred Nganga Mutua will vie to be the next President of the Republic of Kenya so that to return Kenya to the railway tracks of where we were meant to be after independence. 

I am ready to press the reboot button. I am ready to give Kenya a new, fair, organised, caring, rich country of happy people.  

“Kenya can be better than it is today, and can be very very very rich but needs a fresh movement,” Dr Mutua said.

Saying Kenyans were tired of tribalism, poverty, unemployment, corruption and suffering, Dr Mutua promised to go round the country listening to the public to enrich his vision for Kenya and to be a servant President. He “humbly” requested for Kenyans support.

He regretted that millions of educated and hardworking youth were unemployed, women still fetched water in dirty rivers, gave birth on roadsides and slept hungry.

“Sixty years after independence, the dream of a prosperous Kenya where no one is left behind, where hard work is rewarded fairly and properly and where dreams come true, is still an illusion,” he said.

Kenyans, he said, were tired of a system that has over the years let them down. “Today, the truth is, Kenyans are fed up. I am fed up and I know you are also fed up,” he said and questioned how countries like 

Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Croatia that were at par with Kenya at independence “are now way richer than us?”

The country’s style of politics and the way Kenyans elected leaders, he added, has ” made us continue to suffer.” 

“We have become a country of a few billionaires and millions of poor, struggling, unemployed and desperate people.”

It is time, he went on, for Kenya to usher in a new dispensation, a new era, a new period of better leadership and life through a new way of thinking, of doing things and a new type of leaders.

He said Kenyans tears of joy at independence have become tears of pain and agony and “our eyes no longer sparkle with hope but are clouded with fear and confusion.”

“The Kenyan Computer has frozen. Computer ya Kenya IMEHANG and Kenya needs a reset – a reboot.  

We need to start AFRESH. We need to change the way things are done and the way leaders serve.  We need something new – A FRESH START – A FRESH MOVEMENT.  If we don’t, fifty years from today we will be asking the same questions we are asking today while languishing in poverty as the rest of the world leaves us way behind.”

Dr Mutua who enjoys local and international network having worked abroad and been government spokesman in the Kibaki administration, said by supporting him, Kenyans will be backing someone who is tried and tested. 

“I have been blessed to have both local and international experience and I understand the dynamics of governance and real development. I know what works and what does not work in Kenya and I know how to change lives,” he said.

Kenya, he continued, needs a young, dynamic, innovative but mature leader.  A person who understands the system but is not a captive of the system.  

Kenyans, he said, did not want empty rhetoric but want a doer as they are tired of government plans that are not implemented. 

Dr Mutua promised to help create five million jobs in the first three years of his presidency, build roads and highways in every constituency and ensure the country’s education system produce young and dynamic citizens.

“We will roll back poverty and restore dignity to all regardless of where you were born or your social or political dispensation,” he pledged.

He also vowed to eliminate bureaucracy, cut wastage and enable businesses thrive in a predictable environment that rewards success not corruption.

Under his leadership, one will only require 14 days to get all his or her licenses and approvals to start business, he said.

Under his watch, politicians will never again steal public land and sell the same land back to Government.

Election violence every four years and politics of mobilizing against other tribes will also end.

His politics, he said, is about mobilizing the economy and against poverty.

He also promised to help eradicate hunger and ensure farmers get profits for their produce.

“Kenyans want a doer not a talker. I assure you, Mambo yatakuwa fresh na Mutua,” he said.

Dr Mutua vouched for a country of rule of law, of security “where our mothers, sisters, daughters can walk in the middle of the night without fear of being raped or being killed.”

On rising public debt, he said, “we need a country where we do not borrow to steal.”

Under slogan “Mambo yatakuwa fresh Mutua,” the Maendeleo Chap Chap leader urged youth to be at forefront in fight for change and catapult him to presidency.

He said the fresh movement was for youth and their parents who have suffered alot.

As a show of high unemployment, hopelessness and need for change, Dr Mutua gave an example of Mzee Mokaya who stopped him during his recent visit to Malindi, lamenting how his six children were unemployed despite the father sacrificing his life to give them education. 

“With a fresh movement, there is no region in Kenya, that cannot be developed and cannot become an industrial and economic centre.  We have the ability to put up factories and economic zones that will attract trillions of shillings. No one will be left behind,” Dr Mutua said.