"Sometimes people criticize us or tell us where we go wrong or right. Recently President Obama said the economies of Kenya and South Korea were at par in the 1970s but today South Korea's economy is ahead of Kenya's 40 times," The Daily Nation quoted Odinga.

The PM was speaking at the St Vincent Pastoral Centre in Kisii Town where he met leaders from the larger Kisii after touring Kisii Level Five Hospital which is being rebuilt.
Although Kenya's income, industry, agricultural and education sectors matched those of South Korea in the 1970s, the Asian country left Kenya behind because Kenya had poor leadership.

He added: "Today South Korea is exporting nearly everything to Kenya including Hyundai, Daewoo and Samsung while Kenya has nothing to export to South Korea."

The report said what was required to change the country was for Kenyans to ask themselves where they went wrong so that they can reach the same development levels as countries they were on the same level with in the 1970s.

"They say in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man or woman is a king and that is why we should not be comparing ourselves with countries like Somalia and others and instead set higher development standards," Odinga said. Just hours before his historic visit to Ghana, President Obama had used Kenya as an example of an African country where leaders had failed to fight corruption.

Visit to sub-Saharan Africa

In his first address in sub-Saharan Africa, Obama heavily criticized corrupt and inept governments all over the continent, saying that without proper governance, development would not come to African nations. "No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery," said the US leader.

He chose Ghana for his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as an appreciation of its growth as a democracy even in the face of closely contested presidential elections. Kenya frequently shows up on the list of the most corrupt countries in Africa and was recently listed as the most corrupt in East Africa.

Obama however singled out the Kenyan civil society and business leadership for praise over their efforts in helping to end last year's post-election violence. "Across Africa, we have seen countless examples of people taking control of their destiny and making change from the bottom up. We saw it in Kenya, where civil society and business came together to help stop post-election violence.

“We saw it in South Africa, where over three-quarters of the country voted in the recent election -- the fourth since the end of apartheid. We saw it in Zimbabwe, where the Election Support Network braved brutal repression to stand up for the principle that a person's vote is their sacred right," Obama said.

Odinga said major sweeping changes would be undertaken in the police force once the taskforce working on reforms completed its work. "The taskforce working on reforms in the police force is set to submit its report to the government by the end of this month and we expect to effect major changes based on their recommendations," he said.

Odinga said corrupt police officers and those with a bad record would not be condoned but those with a good record would be motivated. He said the local government Act would be amended so that councilors were paid from the Consolidated Fund and mayors and chairmen of local authorities elected directly by voters.

The PM said the government was also working on reforms in the tea sector that would ensure farmers were paid a fair price following complaints that they were being exploited. He said the ministries of Agriculture and Cooperatives were working on the reforms in the tea sector.