This archive report was first published on 19 July 2021.
On Monday, July 12, ODM leader Raila Odinga outlined his vision for transforming rural and urban centers in Kenya into prosperous units that are not far removed from each other.
According to Odinga, this transformation will require a deliberate policy of Rural Transformation that makes rural life more livable and migration to cities unnecessary.
He emphasized the need for urban regeneration to go hand in hand with rural transformation, ensuring more balanced growth and integration between rural and urban areas.
However, Deputy President William Ruto has been a fierce critic of the referendum push, maintaining that Kenyans' problems are superior to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
Speaking on the issue, Ruto quoted the book of Isaiah 10:1, saying, “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the poor, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.”
He also emphasized that his “bottom-up” economic model is founded on the Bible and quoted Psalms 113:7-8, which reads, “He raises the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from their misery and makes them companions of princes, the princes of his people.”
DP Ruto's comments come as the country grapples with economic inequality, with more than half of Kenya's bank branches found in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kiambu, reflecting the wealth and income disparity across the country's 47 counties.
