Raila proposes ‘New Deal’ programmes in poverty war

Azimio la Umoja presidential flagbearer Raila Odinga is working on an elaborate plan that promises to force the government to ensure the welfare and comfort of its citizens.

But critics are already pointing out that financing the ambitious plan will subject an already overburdened taxpayers to more pain.

Although Mr Odinga’s most publicised social welfare programme is the Sh6,000 monthly for the poorest households, the Nation has established that he is working on several other programmes that will see the State step in to support other groups like widows, single mothers, village elders, the elderly aged 70 plus, students and the youth.

Great Society

The programmes, according to a proposed policy paper, are packaged to end extreme poverty in Kenya. Should he win the presidency in August and successfully pull them through, Mr Odinga’s team believes the programmes would alter the nation and the role of the State in the lives of citizens, comparing it with former US President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society policies that altered America through programmes such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and unemployment insurance.

At least one million widows will also be brought into the social net, with the paper disclosing that the existing Inua Jamii stipends for those over 70 years of age will be increased from current Sh2,000 to Sh4,000 a month.

Currently, not all persons aged 70 and above get the Sh2,000 stipends largely because of corruption and administrative hurdles.

Mr Odinga has in the past sought to clarify that the Sh6,000 monthly stipends to the poorest families is not a handout but an investment and a foundation for a new transformational value chain that will trigger massive economic activity and create thousands of localised small-scale businesses and enterprises.

Ruto cash promises

Mr Odinga, who has accused Deputy President William Ruto, his fiercest rival in the State House race, of promoting politics of cash handouts, has had to explain that his proposal for a welfare state was not meant to counter DP’s cash promises to various segments of society.

Mr Odinga argues that the programme will lead to millions of jobs and the eventual development of a thriving middle class, resulting a robust market for SMEs and leading to larger corporations.

Mr Odinga also has plans to bring on board persons living with. According to the Azimio team, government data indicates that there are about 900,000 such people but currently, only 47, 000 of them benefit from cash transfer.

The former prime minister is also putting youth owned enterprises within the social security bracket with a provision that those businesses will receive state grants that will not be paid until after seven years. The proposal was initially in the Building Bridges Initiative Bill that sought to change the Constitution but was stopped by the courts on the grounds it didn’t not follow the right procedure.

The State intervention if he is elected would also cover healthcare, what the former PM calls Babacare under which he plans to scale up the Universal Health Care pilot programmes to the rest of the country.

His health scheme also gives the government primary responsibility to pay for the extreme poor (indigents) in rural and urban areas.

National government role

Those in the know say that in pushing for sweeping interventions that will cost billions in social safety net proposals, Mr Odinga will sharply expand the role of the national government in the lives of millions of Kenyans as a matter of right.

The team says it has identified several potential sources of money to fund the welfare programs. Key among the potential sources is running the corruption networks out of business and using the money saved to fund state intervention in the lives of citizens.

When he first formally unveiled the cash transfer plan at a media briefing at the University of Nairobi in October last year, Mr Odinga said his side is determined to ensure that people have adequate food and that no child will be born into poverty again and be confined to poverty as has become the norm in this country.

 “We believe the time has come for a government that spends on Kenyans not on itself,” he said.

The ODM chief promised “an aggressive anti-corruption campaign that would not only save money but also yield additional resources to be directed at protecting the poor.”

His team is sure that closing the corruption taps will be enough to deliver the social security.

Potential sources

The team says it has also identified many other potential sources of money to fund the ambitious programmes and the Azimio government would not need to borrow more money or raise taxes.

According to party lawyer Paul Mwangi, everything Mr Odinga is trying to do with regard to social welfare is already a requirement in Article 43 of the constitution and should have taken off years ago.

Article 43 provides that every person has the right--to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care; accessible and adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation.

It also provides that Kenyans have a right to be free from hunger, and to have adequate food of acceptable quality; clean and safe water in adequate quantities; to social security; and to education.

“A person shall not be denied emergency medical treatment. The State shall provide appropriate social security to persons who are unable to support themselves and their dependants,” the article says.

Mr Odinga has repeatedly said that all modern and progressive nations whether in Europe, North America or Asia have some form of social security protection for citizens. He wants Kenya to make a start and stay on the path. But there are those who fear that in pushing for this program, there would be too much government in people’s lives what only happens in communist regimes like Cuba.

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