Wiper leader Kalonzo launches his 2022 presidential bid

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka yesterday hit the road running  in the race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in the August 9, 2022 polls.

Kalonzo, who is set to fight it out for the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) presidential ticket with Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi.

With a new slogan ‘SKM, Kenya Mpya’, the former vice-president will be making the second stab at the presidency after his debut in 2007 emerging a distant third behind retired President Mwai Kibaki and opposition chief Raila Odinga.

In 2013 and 2017 Kalonzo was the running mate to Raila where they both lost to President Kenyatta and DP William Ruto.

“Kenyans will never be deceived again. Make no mistake, you have absolutely an experienced safe pair of hands,” said Kalonzo.

But yesterday evening, the Wiper boss stated his journey to the House on the Hill will be hinged on economic recovery and development, the green goal (agriculture), zero tolerance on corruption, sustainable debt management and youth and women empowerment.

These pillars, Kalonzo said will form the basis of his manifesto will be developed by the SKM Command Centre which was launched yesterday, exactly a year to the next general.

“I believe as a social democrat that we must have a practical approach to what constitutes economic progress and development. I believe in an economy that confers dignity to our people.

“Agriculture remains our best bet at sustainable economic development. My government will enhance and accelerate investments in the agriculture value chain by streamlining taxation, provide subsidies and provide markets to our farmers,” said Kalonzo.

Grow cooperative movement

Kalonzo said that under his presidency, he will deliberately zone the country based on productive abilities and grow the cooperative movement to enable our farmers benefit from economies of scale.

“We must accept we have a problem. The family unit recognised under our constitution is under growing threat. The threat is both moral and economic. Kalonzo Economic models cannot cure this problem,” he said.

He went on: “The SKM Command centre will develop a sustainable and well tested welfare programme that will protect Kenyans from harm, provide decent and affordable education for every child, provide a robust public healthcare system and cushion our workers from job losses through sound economic policies and provide clean water to all households in the country.”

War on corruption

Kalonzo further pledged he will wage relentless war on corruption in the public sector and revitalise infrastructure development that provides sustainable returns on investment.

And to curb the endemic traffic jams in the cities, Kalonzo stated that his government will invest in mass transit systems that are convenient and cut out on loss of manpower spend in traffic gridlocks.

On the economy, Kalonzo promised foreign companies doing business in Kenya will be required to invest at least 50 per cent of their net profits in country to create jobs for our youths and spur economic growth.

“We will design an innovative taxation system that doesn’t reward the rich but one that rewards the millions of Kenyans struggling to pull themselves up through wealth redistribution.

We will institute tax breaks for companies creating thousands of jobs for our people and eliminate capital gains tax for starts and SMEs that will create jobs for our youths,” said Kalonzo.

Kalonzo also pledged his government will deliberately review the taxation model in the oil and gas sector, stabilise the pricing to lower the cost of doing business, and provide relief to millions of Kenyans struggling to put food on the table.

He further pledged that should he be elected in the 2022 polls, he proposes to review and institute measures on viability of the oil resources and eliminate dozens of taxes in oil chain value, adding that there is need to appreciate the economy is service driven largely by agriculture and tourism.

He said it is time to put breaks to thousands of families having their mortgages foreclosed by banks, saying it is not easy to build Kenya better if the people who have dared to own homes are losing them to auctioneers. He further said it was time to re-look at the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) rationale and give millions of Kenyans access to credit in the financial institutions.

“CRB is a tool that has clearly been abused by some lenders rendering millions ineligible for credit and it is time to retool to our present-day realities and circumstances.

This is the time for financial institutions to climb down the ladder and provide affordable credit to the SMEs,” said Kalonzo.