Governor Orengo slams Kenya Kwanza Gov’t for removing subsidies

Siaya Governor James Orengo now blames Kenya Kwanza’s decision to remove subsidies in almost all sectors of the economy for the current high cost of living.

Speaking in Bondo on Sunday, Governor Orengo argued that President William Ruto's government should work to be in tandem with the mechanisms that were introduced by his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta's regime to ease the economic burden facing Kenyans at the time.

He noted that the mechanisms were introduced to make the cost of living bearable and President Ruto's government should "now live to this reality."

"The cost of living is going up. In the last dispensation under President Uhuru Kenyatta, there were mechanisms that were put in place to make life easier for the people and where citizens were finding it difficult to afford their daily needs, the mechanism of subsidies was introduced in many areas of our economy including fuel subsidy," he said.

Orengo warned that the cost of living will continue to go high if the Kenya Kwanza administration will continue with what he termed as its populist agenda of ‘tokenism.’

The firebrand politician further emphasized that governments are there to enable citizens to live in a safe and secure environment as opposed to oppressing them.

"The hustler fund is a populist agenda, it’s not supposed to give people meaningful ways of trying to make lives bearable," he noted.

"Governments are not there to oppress the people, they are there to make life cheaper and prosperous to the normal Kenyan people. Governments are there to enable citizens live in a secure environment. And that is the same duty I have in Siaya."

The governor noted that they are keeping a keen eye on the national government to see if it will fulfill the promises it made of restoring the nation's economy and make lives bearable for the people of Kenya.

"This journey is not going to be easy. We are therefore looking at the national government this year and next year whether they are going to be true to their word. We don't want empty rhetoric," said the Siaya County boss.