Karua says UDA power struggle diverting attention from critical issues » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 7 — National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) Kenya Party Leader Martha Karua has dismissed national discourse on the impeachment motion against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua as a ploy to divert attention.
Karua told news reporters on Monday the debate following the tabling an impeachment motion on Tuesday, October 1, had diverted Kenyans’ attention from critical issues including the controversial proposal to lease the country’s main airport.
She also said the government was yet to account for the killing of unarmed and peaceful protestors, abductions and arbitrary arrests which she said were going on.
“The approval of the shady Adani deals that mortgaged our premier gateway the JKIA for a whopping thirty years without competitive bidding or public participation, and the similarly opaque Adani power transmission deal,” Karua, Raila Odinga’s running mate in the 2022 presidential election, stated.
The former Constitutional Affairs Minister also faulted the transition to the Social Health Insuarance Fund (SHIF) amid mounting frastations over hitches.
She said the contested transition from National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) violates the constitutionally-guaranteed right to healthcare services.
“SHIF is by design not only unconscionable but also unconstitutional and ought to be rejected by all Kenyans of goodwill,” Karua said.
Opaque system
She accussed President William Ruto’s administration of “introducing an opaque cartel-infested system designed to fleece Kenyans off their hard-earned money, while severely limiting their access to health and systemic abuse of human rights”.
Karua also accussed government of sabotaging the nation’s food sovereignty.
“A host of Agriculture bills that criminalize indigenous farming (livelihoods) and deny citizens the right to ensure their food security and instead makes us reliant on foreign multinational corporations for our food needs,” she told reporters in Nairobi.
Karua wondered why the presidency and Parliament are fixated on the impeachment of Gachagua rather than serving Kenyans suffering from SHIF transition chaos for instance.
“The leaders themselves have demonstrated their own incompetence and that they are unfit to hold public office,” she stated.
She cited the Finance Bill 2024 which the government dropped following sustained protests that culminated in the storming of Parliament on June 25 as a demonstration of greed.
Karua urged sustained vigilance by the public to safeguard national interests.
“Together, let us rise to affirm that the measure of our nation is not in the strength of its leaders, but in the steadfast courage of its people,” she concluded.
By Mitchele Tabitha
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