ODM Party leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, encouraged the youth to think outside the box and make a deliberate effort towards wealth creation.
In his short speech while accompanying President William Ruto during the installation of Cooperative University of Kenya Vice Chancellor Bernard Chitunga, Raila indicated that saving was key in the grand scheme of wealth creation.
“We talk all the time about development, but development will not come on its own; it has to be initiated,” Raila said.
“Cooperatives promote saving, and saving is very important in terms of wealth creation. When you save, you can be able to invest. I have talked in the past about the vicious cycle of poverty where a person says they are poor and therefore cannot save; cannot save and therefore cannot invest; cannot invest and therefore cannot develop; hence being poor.”
Rich in resources
Raila observed that Kenya was rich in various resources, and that the government has the ability to transform the nation from begging for funds into a wealthy country.
“We must make a deliberate effort to break that poverty cycle. It is only after breaking the poverty cycle that you will be able to develop. We need to think outside of the box,” Raila noted.
“We don’t have to be permanently poor, and we also don’t need to be going around begging. We can be able to do value-addition to what we locally produce here in our country. We can be able to exploit all the resources we have in our country and use them to create wealth for our people.”
Adding: “Africa is the richest continent on the planet earth; yet the paradox is that the richest continent is also the poorest in terms of living conditions of its people.”
Bernard Chitunga
During the ceremony, the former prime minister also hailed Chitunga as a forward-thinking leader capable of transforming the institution into a powerhouse of research and innovation.
“I want to congratulate the young man who is the new vice chancellor for Cooperative University; a very promising young man, Bernard William Chitunga,” Raila said.
Chitunga, who is 36 years of age, was appointed in January to take over leadership of the university after serving as the partnership specialist at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing, China.
His experience in global development finance exceeds 15 years and spans across the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.