The President has announced plans to ban the importation of shoes in the next two years and only have those from leather products manufactured locally.

According to the President, Kenya needs to capitalize on the production of animal hides to manufacture leather products locally, and to create jobs for the Kenyan youth and also local farmers.

Speaking on Sunday, the Head of state said that it is pointless to have traders import expensive shoes while local farmers feed their hides to their dogs or sell them at low prices.

He stated that he has allocated about Ksh.2B to support the leather value chain and ensure animal products such as hides are fully utilized.

“I have allocated close to Ksh.2B for animal skin treatment and you will see it in the budget. have put enough money in the leather value chain to ensure that our cows are used,” he said.

The president’s proposal is part of his move to deal with the cost of living and the high case of unemployment in the country.

Other sectors the president has said to  help are agriculture and education.

The government has proposed a Ksh.4.5 Trillion budget which the Ministry of Education was awarded the share of Ksh.628B.

Department for Medical Services and Public Health received Ksh.141B, while the allocation to the Higher Education Loan’s Board increased from 15B to Ksh.30B.

Women and Youth Empowerment Program, Poverty Reduction, Equity were allocated Ksh.819B.

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