Ruto hits back at Uhuru for waging ‘vendetta war’ on him
Deputy President William Ruto yesterday hit out at President Uhuru Kenyatta who he accused of waging a vendetta war on him.
At campaign rallies in Meru county, the Kenya Kwanza presidential flag bearer asked President Uhuru to stop meddling in his contest with Azimio-One Kenya Alliance candidate Raila Odinga.
“Wewe Bwana Rais hushindani na mimi. Kuwa mungwana tafadhali, mtu akikusaidia wacha kuleta kona kona (Mr President, you are not in competition with me. Be a gentleman please, when someone helps you don’t turn against them),” Ruto said.
The Deputy Presideent who made stopovers in Maua, Meru and Tharaka, accompanied by his running mate Rigathi Gachagua and other coalition partners, told the President to keep off the campaigns and retire honourably.
“You are not in the race. Leave me to face Mr Kitendawili (Raila) so that I can show him dust. I don’t see why you should be attacking me,” said Ruto.
On Wednesday, the President accused his deputy of engaging in politics of anger, deceit, insults and threats with accusations that the Jubilee government has moved the Port of Mombasa operations to Naivasha.
“Imagine a leader telling lies in public that we have moved the Port from Mombasa to Naivasha. What kind of lies are these? We created the inland port only for ease of investors to do business. The noise and lies will not bring food to our people,” Uhuru told a meeting in Nakuru where he campaigned for Raila.
But Ruto said he has stood by the President for two terms since 2013 and that Raila has always been fighting Uhuru.
“We are the ones who helped you to become President and this is a fact you cannot walk away from,” he told a jubilant crowd in Maua town.
He asked the Head of State to prepare to leave office and retire peacefully. “Go and rest and we shall protect you,” he added.
Regarding the recent presidential debate, Ruto accused Raila of “chickening out” and boycotting the occasion because he had no agenda.
“He claimed he could not attend the debate because he has issues with me, but the truth is that he had nothing to the Kenyans. If he had a beef with me, what about the over 30 million citizens who were watching the discussion,” Ruto said.
Bulldoze voters
Gachagua said the people of Mt Kenya do not require Uhuru’s advice on who to vote for as the next President and he should therefore not bulldoze voters.
He accused the President of abandoning the region after it voted overwhelmingly for him. At the same time, while speaking in Kakamega, Amani National Congress chief Musalia Mudavadi condemned police raids on private offices belonging to leaders of the alliance.
The reaction follows news security agents were planning to raid his private offices.
Speaking in Mumias during the funeral service of Mumias North Ward ANC candidate Abdallah Kweyu Aiswa, Mudavadi termed the raids as the last kicks of a dying horse that will not intimidate the alliance leadership.
“Raiding our private offices shows how much they have sensed defeat. How can we have IEBC servers in our offices? How possible is that,?” said Mudavadi. He dismissed claims that he was bought by Deputy President William Ruto to support him.
“In 2007 and 2017, I supported Raila Odinga. Is someone also trying to insinuate that I was bought? Why is it troubling them that now I am working with Ruto,?” he posed.
In Mombasa, United Democratic Alliance UDA leaders have rescheduled their final rally to August 4.
Raila’s Azimio is set to hold their final rally in Mombasa’s Tononoka’s Grounds on August 5 before finalising in Nairobi the following day.
“They heard we have booked the grounds, then went and booked, we decided to shelve our plan and reschedule, but they still said the ground is fully booked the whole week, we will not accept,” said former Senator Hassan Omar. They told off Executive Director of the Azimio presidential secretariat, Raphael Tuju over his remarks that the deputy president was paid.
On Wednesday, Tuju claimed that DP Ruto was paid billions to team up with President Kenyatta in the 2013 polls.
Tuju through a televised interview claimed that the colossal amount of money was paid upfront payment before the election with the rest of the payment channelled through control of key ministry dockets within the Jubilee administration.
However, Omar and Nyali MP Mohamed Ali termed Tuju’s remarks unfounded and baseless to destroy the character of DP Ruto ahead of General Election.
