Former Chief Justice David Maraga has outlined a sweeping five-point economic agenda, positioning himself as a reform-focused alternative to President William Ruto, whom he accused of perpetuating ‘messiah politics’ and claiming sole capacity to lead the country.
In a statement, Maraga said Kenya’s 2010 Constitution ended the era of political saviours and affirmed that any Kenyan can lead, guided by the constitution.
He said his proposed plan — grounded in what he calls his “Ukatiba philosophy” — aims to rebuild the economy at home while rejecting what he described as the government’s labour-export scam.
Maraga’s plan centres on fiscal discipline, structural business reforms, youth employment, intellectual property development, and an uncompromising anti-corruption push.
Maraga said his first priority would be restoring macroeconomic stability by reining in public spending.
“We will balance the budget in my first term by shrinking the cost of politics, hard-capping debt service near KSh600 billion, cancelling fraudulent or idle contracts, and freezing non-essential borrowing,” he said.
He argued that eliminating wastage and redeploying resources would reverse the crowding-out effects of the current administration’s fiscal policies.
He further pledged to overhaul the business environment to spur job creation, saying entrepreneurs were being strangled by heavy taxation and overregulation.
“High taxation has made business unviable and over-regulation makes doing business unnecessarily difficult,” he said, adding that his reforms would allow capital markets to play their rightful role in nation-building.
One of the most ambitious proposals in Maraga’s blueprint is the creation of a National Youth Apprenticeship Programme targeting Kenyans aged 18 to 30.
He said the initiative would fund upskilling, offer employer rebates, and guarantee job placements, projecting that four million young people would be working by the third year.
According to Maraga, the programme could generate up to Sh576 billion annually once fully scaled.
On technology, manufacturing, and intellectual property, Maraga pledged to prioritise investments in digital infrastructure, talent development, and county-level industrial zones.
He said unlocking Kenya’s intellectual property capacity would allow the country to “produce and export ideas, patented inventions, products and services, instead of exporting our people.”
Maraga also vowed to confront corruption head-on, insisting that Kenya does not need new laws but rather the political will to implement existing ones.
He pledged that neither he nor his family would conduct business with the government, saying his tenure as Chief Justice demonstrated his commitment to digitisation and transparency.
“Once and for all, we will fight corruption with the seriousness this national crisis deserves,” he said, promising end-to-end e-procurement, real-time budgeting systems, aggressive prosecutions, and robust asset recoveries.
Maraga framed the plan as a direct response to what he called the administration’s failures, saying Kenyans deserve a leadership model grounded in constitutionalism rather than personality politics.
