Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has offered a Sh20,000 reward to the creator of a meme that has now gone viral, making fun of Deputy President William Ruto’s economic principle.
Sh20,000 reward for Kenyan behind "Bottom Up" viral video
The ‘Bottom-Up’ economic principle became the butt of online jokes after Kandara MP Alice Wahome was unable to explain it during an interview on Citizen TV.
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The ‘Bottom-Up’ economic principle became the butt of online jokes after Kandara MP Alice Wahome was unable to explain it during an interview on Citizen TV.
Ngunyi commented on a clip showing young men bending and moving their behinds to the popular Solfege scale, popularly known as Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do.
“This one got me cracking. It is silly but it got me thinking that Alice Wahome is not to blame. "Matako Juu" is the work of David Ndii. Alice Wahome was just repeating what Ndii taught them -Gibberish. Can the producer of this comic relief collect Sh20,000,” he tweeted.
In response, Ndii said that Kenyans were better off discussing economics in 2022 instead of the tyranny of numbers.
DP Ruto also took to Twitter to explain the confusing economic principle which has taken over social media debates.
“Bottom-up is anchored on deliberately promoting investments & financial instruments targeting the millions who are unemployed, hustler enterprises/farmer groups,” he said.
Trickle-down vs Bottom-Up economy models
According to economics experts, the two approaches to economic policies differ in the fact that one prioritises resource allocation to macro players who are then expected to pass down the benefits down the ladder while the other is the complete opposite.
In the Trickle-down model, capital is given to entrepreneurs who then creates jobs resulting in economic growth, and, ultimately, improved governance.
On the other hand, the Bottom-Up model advocates that small scale trade builds regional economies up to the macro level.
“Consider the difference between giving Sh54 billion in aid to the Government of Kenya versus buying apparel from Kenya that allows 500 different entrepreneurs to make profits of Sh100 million each,” explains former Harvard Business Review senior editor Gardiner Morse.
“While building identical foreign-exchange reserves, the latter creates many more jobs, produces bigger economic ripple effects, aligns the government’s interests with the country’s prosperity through taxation, and disperses power to a large number of businesses—all of which promotes democracy and growth,” he adds.
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