The Academic Director of the MBA programme at Strathmore University Prof Fred Ogola has taunted President William Ruto over the remarks he made during his first TV interview as the Head of State.
In a roundtable interview with journalists from local media houses, Ruto argued the current high cost of living was due to rising cost of food which he blamed on poor agricultural output.
Noting his administration has rolled out various measures such as reducing cost of fertilizer to help farmers increase their farm output, Ruto remained optimistic that the cost of living will drop significantly once the harvest season commences.
“If we seriously want to attack the cost of living jigsaw, we must deal with the cost of food. When I came into office, the very first thing I did was to begin the journey to bring back the country to the trajectory of food production,” the President said.
Reacting to the sentiments, Prof Ogola, who is a World Bank IFC Certified Trainer of Trainers on Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility, disputed Ruto’s position saying cost of food was not was causing the high cost of living in the country.
“It’s very clear William Ruto doesn’t understand Economics. How can he say that the biggest contributor to the cost of living is food. Food is one of the goods of life, expenses, not cost of living. He is brainwashing the Citizen TV among other interviewers,” he tweeted
“The fact that food is a larger component of our budget doesn’t mean it’s the greatest driver of cost of living,” added the Director of the Institute of strategy and competitiveness at Strathmore.
He said the high cost of living was due to increase of prices of electricity, transport, rising taxes among others.
“5 Factors Driving Up Your Cost of Living· 1. Transportation· 2. Utilities· 3. Child care · 4. Insurance · 5. Taxes,” he stated.
Ogola holds a PhD and Master’s Degree in Management Science and Innovation with a focus on strategy and execution from ESADE Business School in Barcelona Spain.
ASADE is one of Europe’s top business school and ranked among the global top 25 in the 2019 Financial Times ranking.
He is the leader of Operation Linda Ugatuzi, the Kenyan national umbrella body of civil society organizations
By Nairobi