ODM party leader Raila Odinga has said that Kenya needs to do value addition to its raw materials before exporting them.
During a Mt Kenya foundation meeting, Raila said that the country needed to promote more and more local Manufacturing instead of importing.
“Going forward, we need to promote our own and look at value addition. There are a lot of goods that we are producing here but we’re exporting raw materials,” Raila said.
“This is the key to economic take off. If you go today to the industrial area, companies that are supposed to be manufacturing producing goods which were employing between 300 to 500 people have been turned into warehouses with containers from China. We are exporting a labor to China,” said Raila.
Raila said he held discussions with the bodaboda people. He said that they went to see him and he knowns their problem and also the solution to their problem.
“Also, I have talked on SMEs and those who depend on importation of goods and so on. I know the problem their going through and I had the chance to talk to them two weeks ago,” said Raila.
“And I promise that what you are requesting I was going to convey and I have already conveyed it to the president,” said Raila.
Raila said what he intends to do is to decongest the city center. He said that the Uhuru highway was a major barrier.
“Most of the traffic on Uhuru highway is transit traffic from East to South to West and vice versa East to West,” said Raila.
“This traffic has no business in the city center. So you build bypasses the traffic from Mombasa all the way to the western Kenya, Nakuru, Kisumu, Kampala, Rwanda, Burundi and DRC would not need to come through the city center and Eastern bypass and the northern bypasses and the link road,” Raila said.
Raila said that former president Mwai Kibaki supported him and they worked very closely.
