Deputy President William Ruto for the second day running openly attacked President Uhuru Kenyatta during his tour of the Head of State’s Mount Kenya backyard, marking a weekend of an uncharacteristic bare-knuckle war of words between the two.
The DP for the second time in a week yesterday returned to Kiambu, the political home turf of President Kenyatta, where he accused his boss of forcing voters to elect ODM leader Raila Odinga in the August 9 General Election.
“We have incurred huge losses through mtu wa kitendawili and we cannot allow him to lead us… we are saying no to his leadership because he operates on deceit and conmanship. He destabilised most of our projects that we had under our Big 4 agenda and crippled the Jubilee Party,” said the deputy president Mr Ruto said after attending a church service at St Andrews Catholic Church in Rironi.
He was accompanied by Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwah, former Kiambu Governor Ferdinard Waititu, Kiambaa legislator Njuguna Wanjiku, Starehe MP Charles Kanyi alias Jaguar and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
While the two have avoided attacking each other in public since their political fallout, this unwritten rule has failed to hold in the past one week.
President Kenyatta fired the first salvo in his meeting with a section of Western Kenya MPs, in which he declared that he has no confidence in his deputy’s credentials to lead the country.
At the meeting, the President urged the legislators to rally behind Mr Odinga in the August 9 presidential race.
“If I was given two ballots to decide, one for Mr Odinga and another for Mr Ruto, I will go for Mr Odinga because Kenya will be safe with him. He has what it takes to save this country,” the President told the MPs, adding that his deputy could not be trusted.
“We have worked together for the last 10 years and I know what I am saying. He is in too much of a hurry. It is up to you,” he added.
“My role will be to hand over power and if Kenyans say so, I have no choice.”
The comments appear to have irked the DP who upped his anti-Odinga rhetoric while taking on the President.
“The President should be told that the Odinga Project is impossible. He destroyed Jubilee and the big four agenda because his track record is highly destructive,” Ruto said on Saturday in Kirinyaga, while also attacking the President for assenting to the Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which is now law.
“The President has signed into law a bill specially designed to prevent Kitendewaili from being deceitful against his partners. He has deceived so many that a law had to be made to cure his deceit. If he is so deceitful how will he treat the mwananchi?”
Yesterday marked the second time in a week that Mr Ruto was returning to Kiambu to address a political rally, in a sign of the high stakes with which he is holding the county in the upcoming presidential race.
On Thursday he was hosted in Kiambu by Mr Ichungwah and aspiring Kiambu senator Karung’o wa Thang’wa.
Addressing his supporters in Rironi, Mr Ruto promised that his government will set aside Sh100 billion for youths’ seed capital, with an additional Sh50 billion to support businesses owned by emerging entrepreneurs.
“We promised you together with President Uhuru Kenyatta a universal healthcare and by the end of this year, every Kenyan will benefit from it,” said DP Ruto who urged Kiambu people to register as voters to help him win the presidency.
Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinard Waititu and Tharaka-Nithi senator Kithure Kindiki, who accompanied Mr Ruto, asked the President to retire peacefully without dictating on who Kenyans should vote for as the next President, just like former President Mwai Kibaki did.
“Uhuru should not endorse anyone for presidency or impose anyone for that matter. He should retire just like what Mr Kibaki did without forcing anyone on Kenyans,” Mr Waititu said.
Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua asked Mr Kenyatta to revise the new directive he issued on banning the sale of scrap metal, saying it is hurting many businesspeople especially from the Mt Kenya region, who are the main players in the industry.
Kiambu is one of the vote-rich counties in Kenya with more than 1.5 million registered voters in last year’s General Election.
