ODM leader Raila Odinga has taken a veiled jibe at Deputy President William Ruto’s hustler narrative terming it as a retrogressive.
In his lecture at the University of Nairobi on Tuesday, September 7, the former Lang’ata Member of Parliament said Ruto’s hustler narrative is unrealistic as it promised youth jobs of yesteryears in a fast-changing world.
“People who were promised digital jobs, who were promised knowledge-based economy, who were promised double-digit economic growth, are now being offered wheelbarrows and being told Kazi ni Kazi,” Odinga said in an apparent reference to William Ruto’s campaign approach which seeks to appeal to the ordinary Kenyan.
Raila further accused Ruto’s hustler narrative of taking back the country to using outdated tools that were used by our great ancestors in this era when nations are sending their children to explore the universe.
“In an era when nations are sending their sons and daughters to planet Mars, I refuse to tell the children of Kenya that the tools our great, great ancestors used in the pre-historic age represent some kind of revolution that can take them places,” Odinga said.
The former Prime Minister said he will not board the hustler narrative and instead said he would wish to prepare the youths of Kenya on where the world is headed to.
“I want to prepare Kenyan youths for jobs of the future, not jobs of yesterday. I want to focus the youth of Kenya on where the world is going, not where the world is coming from,” Rails said.
This is the latest in Raila’s series of attacks against William Ruto’s campaign approach.
Previously, Raila and his allies have branded Ruto’s hustler narrative or bottom-up economic approach a recipe for class wars in the country.
In June, President Uhuru Kenyatta indirectly mocked William Ruto for ‘corrupting minds’ of the youth with handouts instead of empowering them to fend for themselves.
Without mentioning the DP by name, Uhuru hit out at some leaders he said do not have plans for transforming the lives of Kenyans and have instead resorted to dishing out handouts.
“You must have plans. And you can’t have plans if you don’t think about the things that will help citizens to stand on their own,” he said.
