Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition has unveiled its priorities for the coming year, with a focus on economic mobility, education, workers’ welfare, and electoral reform.
Speaking in Kisumu town on Saturday, December 31, National Assembly minority leader Opiyo Wandayi said that too many Kenyans are working hard yet remaining in extreme poverty.
The coalition plans to review the minimum wage and push for clarity in the management of education, particularly regarding the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), funding for public universities, and school fee subsidies.
Wandayi stated, “We will follow up to ensure no child misses a place in high school, college or university because of school fees. High school education was also substantially subsidized in the last regime…The Ruto regime has removed the subsidy but insists that fees remain the same. We are going to demand the full reinstatement of the subsidy.”
The coalition also plans to prioritize the grievances of university lecturers and school teachers over pay and to ensure that collective bargaining and minimum wage laws are progressive and effective.
They will demand fair and merit-based appointments and promotions in the public sector, and the reinstatement of social protection programs that were removed by the Ruto government.
Additionally, the coalition will push for the protection of farmers and electoral reform. Wandayi stated, “The government is hell-bent on importing maize, rice and sugar. We are going to demand that this must not happen at the expense of our sugar cane farmers and factories…It is clear that the existing electoral laws and procedures are not fit for purpose. We are going to demand that the reforms currently being proposed must be fair, inclusive and verifiable.”
Wandayi emphasized that the coalition will work towards ensuring long-term and sustainable upward economic mobility for all Kenyans.