Nairobi — Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has hit out at President William Ruto's plan to turn Kenya into a first-world country like Singapore, calling the vision unrealistic.
The former Vice President questioned how the country could dream of such high status while local companies are closing down or moving their operations to neighboring Tanzania and Uganda.
"How do you make Kenya Singapore when many companies in Kenya have migrated to Tanzania and Uganda, and our youth are unemployed? How do you do that?" he stated.
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Musyoka during an interview on NTV claimed that during the bipartisan talks held in 2023, the opposition received reports showing a worrying trend of businesses leaving Kenya.
He argued that by failing to keep these companies at home, the government is essentially exporting jobs to other countries while Kenyan youth remain unemployed.
"This was given to us during the NADCO report; it was actually brought to us in hard copies. At that time, we were told it was because of what had happened in the country, but it continued; nothing has changed. Companies are migrating from Kenya, which means exporting jobs to Uganda and Tanzania," said Musyoka.
He noted that although the government previously blamed the situation on temporary political tension, the migration of businesses has continued long after the talks ended.
The Wiper leader also used the opportunity to link his political identity to the late President Mwai Kibaki's leadership hinging on the Kibaki administration, where he served as Vice President from 2008 to 2013.
He reminded Kenyans that he was part of the team that built the Thika Superhighway and helped bring peace to South Sudan through the Nairobi-signed peace deal.
"Kenyans will remember I was Vice President to Kibaki; that is when 'we' built the Thika Highway," Musyoka said.
"The work 'we' did in South Sudan, we realised under the CPA, which was signed here in Nairobi under President Kibaki again, which gave birth to the Republic of South Sudan," he added.
Musyoka told his critics to look at his record as the Member of Parliament for Kitui North for nearly three decades. He dismissed claims by President Ruto that he failed to develop his own backyard, specifically the road to his home in Tseikuru.
Musyoka explained that he purposely started that project late in his term because he believes leaders should eat last,prioritizing the needs of the wider public before his own village.
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"Ask yourself, why would these people keep electing one man called Kalonzo Musyoka from 1985?" he said.
The former Vice President accused President Ruto of focusing development projects mostly in his own home region. He insisted that his own record is clean and free from the corruption scandals that have followed his competitors.
He asserted that without solving the current unemployment crisis and the flight of companies, the promise of making Kenya a first-world nation remains a mere dream.
