President William Ruto has announced that he intends to ban the importation of shoes in the coming two years and have only those from leather products manufactured locally.
According to the Head of State, Kenya needs to capitalize on the production of animal hides to manufacture leather products locally, create jobs for the Kenyan youth and also promote local farmers.
Speaking in Kajiado on Sunday, Ruto said that it is senseless to have traders import expensive shoes while local farmers feed their hides to their dogs or sell them at throw-away prices.
“Ikifika miaka mbili ijayo mimi nitapiga marufuku viatu ambazo zinatolewa nje, sisi huwa tunatengeneza viatu na ngozi ya ng’ombe zetu hapa Kenya,” he said.
“Ngozi yetu tunaenda tunapatia mbwa inakula alafu ngozi ya watu wengine ndio tunaenda kununua na bei ghali sijui shilingi elfu ishirini, elfu arubaini. Si hio ni upumbavu mwingi sana? Na hakuna miujiza inafanyika ni hio hio ngozi tu inatumika ni hio tu ya ng’ombe.”
President Ruto noted that he has allocated about Ksh.2 billion to bolster the leather value chain and ensure animal hides from livestock are resourcefully utilized.
The move, Ruto added, will also recalibrate the price of animal hides to a reasonable high and have farmers earn more income.
“I have allocated close to Ksh.2 billion for animal skin treatment and you will see it in the budget. I have put enough money in the leather value chain to ensure that our cows are used,” he said.
“Wale wakulima mnauza ngozi sijui mia moja sijui hamsini mnatupa, sasa tutatengeneza bai ya sawasawa ya nyama na ngozi pamoja.”
Ruto’s proposal was part of the avenues he intends to utilize to deal with the cost of living and the skyrocketing unemployment cases in the nation with the proposed budget for the Financial Year 2023/24.
Other sectors he said he will tap into are agriculture and education.
The government has proposed a Ksh.4.5 trillion budget which saw the Ministry of Education being awarded the lion’s share of Ksh.628 billion.
The State Department for Medical Services and Public Health received Ksh.141 billion, while the allocation to the Higher Education Loan’s Board (HELB) doubled from Ksh.15 billion to Ksh.30 billion.
The government also allocated Ksh.81.9 billion to Equity, Poverty Reduction, Women and Youth Empowerment Programs to support entrepreneurial endeavors.
It further gave Ksh.338 billion to support operations in Defence, National Police, National Intelligence Service and Prisons for the financial year.
