Raila on cost of living: I have spoken to President Kenyatta but...

Speaking in a media interview on Tuesday evening, Odinga said being a close ally to the Head of State, he had personally spoken with President Uhuru Kenyatta on the concerns around the cost of living.  

Odinga pointed out that there are a lot of external factors that have contributed to the current cost of living, adding that the President is also "facing a lot of challenges" in his quest to address the country's economic crisis. 

“I do not want to speak for the government, but I have indeed spoken to President Kenyatta about these issues. I know he is facing a lot of challenges, for example, now the government is being pulled in two different directions; there is a faction of government that is opposing that very government’s agenda,” he said.

“That faction of government is playing with the livelihood of Kenyans. They’re trying to divert the attention of the public, playing populist politics with the cost of living.”

His role in the current government, he sought to clarify, is strictly advisory, hence dismissing allegations from the opposing political camp that he enjoys State privileges hence has powers to lower the cost of living for Kenyans.

“Kenyans are not stupid, they know very well that I’m not in government. I don’t earn a salary or allowance from the government and I don’t live in a government house, but I advise. I can give some advice…it is not implementable, the user may or may not use it,” he said.

“But having been in government, I also know the challenges which a government faces. Like this crisis we’re in right now, it’s a serious crisis, you can see the way the cost of oil has gone up, so virtually everything else goes up because they all depend on oil for manufacturing.”

He further added: “There have been other events which have taken place in other parts of the world, which have themselves are major contributing factors to the cost of living not only in Kenya, but around the world. Even the USA is fighting it, European countries are having serious problems because of what is happening in Ukraine.”

A recent report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) revealed that the country’s cost of living had registered its biggest jump in more than two years.