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Thika Town Member of Parliament (MP) Patrick Wainaina has said that there is an urgent need for the government to impose a ban on all imported goods that can be manufactured locally.

He said only then can the government be equipped to tackle the high level of unemployment adding that the ban can go a long way in creating gainful employment for the youth.

Wainaina said that both levels of government should put up industries across the country where such products can be manufactured.

The MP said he had already sponsored a motion to the effect of the abovementioned proposal in the national assembly and urged the executive to support it when it becomes law.

‘The bill is in the second reading and it’s my sincere hope that the executive will give it full support’,said he.

The legislator who was addressing the media in Kiambu town said that if the imports are banned, the country’s economy would greatly improve.

“It is not economically viable to import items which can be made in Kenya and I there beseech the relevant authorities to ensure that all products which can be made locally are sourced and manufactured locally,” he said.

Wainaina said that the country should focus on exporting as opposed to importing adding that the same will create jobs and increase wages.

‘Exports boosts economic output as measured by a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while imports negatively affected domestic currency value,cause inflation and increased interest rates’, he observed.

He said that the current unemployment rate situation in the country will continue increasing unless urgent measures are taken noting that only industrialization can ‘detonate the unemployment time bomb’.

The MP who surprised many when he withstood the Jubilee wave in central region and was elected as an independent candidate said that local manufacturers continued to lose their business orders due to flooding of imports.

‘When a country imports goods, the money spent on the imports leaves it’s economy thereby decreasing GDP’, he said adding that the same decreases the income of the country.

At the same time, he said that there is need for both levels of government to promptly pay those who win tenders.

‘When the youth win tenders, they look for loans from banks and the loans have to be serviced and therefore prompt payment should be prioritized’, he said.

He commented the government for investing heavily on technical and vocational training education.

Though he has not openly declared his intentions to gun for the Kiambu gubernatorial contest in 2022, his development activities in all the 12 constituencies tells it all.