Former President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday, November 19, lashed out at his successor William Ruto for failing to deliver on his campaign pledges and instead blaming his administration.
Mr Kenyatta said President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza government had performed below the expectations of Kenyans.
“I don’t have to say anything but so that my silence is not misconstrued to mean that I am afraid of speaking up my mind, it is now clear to Kenyans that some people have failed in their job,” he said in Mwingi.
Mr Kenyatta said it was unfortunate that one year after taking over, President Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua were blaming him for the failures of their own economic policies.
“Nowadays, I’ve got used to being blamed for anything and everything. Each time someone fails to do their job, they blame the previous government. Even when somebody’s wife fails to conceive, they blame Uhuru,” he said amid cheers and laughter from worshippers at Mwingi Full Gospel Church.
Dr Ruto and his deputy have on numerous occasions accused the former president of messing the country’s economy through unchecked foreign borrowing and susbidising consumption.
The two have also accused Mr Kenyatta of squandering the country’s finances, saying they inherited empty coffers.
In October last year, Dr Ruto accused Mr Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga of sabotaging the economy, blaming them for the rise in the cost of living.
Mr Kenyatta flew to Mwingi with his host Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and first held a brief breakfast meeting with Wiper MPs at Mwingi Cottage Hotel.
They then proceeded to the church where the high cost of living dominated speeches from the leaders who accompanied the two, with many MPs saying the country was headed in the wrong direction, with Kenyans overburdened by taxation.
Later, Mr Kenyatta addressed an impromptu rally in Mwingi town where he said he was still firmly in the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition, which he backed during the last year’s elections.
“I am proud that what I stood for is still the best position. My political stand has not changed because I am not a fraudster to keep on wavering or shifting from one position to another” he said.
He advised Azimio political parties to remain united and resist intimidation and threats that may be geared towards dividing them, saying greed for power should not confuse leaders to stop pursuing the best interests of the country.
The former president also urged Kenyans to maintain peace and avoid ethnic politics, saying every person has a role to play in the affairs of the country.
Earlier, Mr Musyoka said that if the high cost of living, especially the price of fuel, is not sufficiently addressed in the report of the National Dialogue Committee, which he co-chairs with National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, he will not append his signature to it.
The Wiper leader accused Kenya Kwanza of treating Mr Kenyatta with disdain and attempting to gag him through intimidation and threats, saying nothing stops the former president from participating actively in politics.
Wiper lawmakers, led by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua, heaped praises on the former president for the many development projects he initiated in Ukambani and across the country. They accused President Ruto of abandoning and withdrawing funding for the projects, including the Kibwezi-Kitui road, Thwake Dam and Enziu river bridge, among others.
“You warned the country against electing William Ruto as President and all Kenyans are already regretting just one year into his presidency. As you predicted, life has become unbearable under Ruto, even those who voted for him are lamenting” said Mwingi West MP Charles Nguna .
In a rejoinder on X, Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria said the Ruto regime was still dealing with the economic mess left behind by the Kenyatta administration. He claimed Mr Kenyatta had expected the economy would collapse by December this year.
