Kenya Kwanza in campaign trail in the ‘city of hustlers’
Deputy President William Ruto yesterday declared Nairobi as the city of hustlers, promising to make it a model for the bottom-up economic policy he has made a hallmark of his 2022 presidential bid.
Speaking during a campaign trail in the city that covered Starehe constituency, the DP, who was crowned the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate on Tuesday, said if elected he would focus on economic policies that will uplift the downtrodden.
Nairobi has become the epicenter of fierce supremacy battles between Ruto and his rival, Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga. The latter recently said Nairobi was “his to lose” but Ruto has promised to wrestle it from him.
On Wednesday, Ruto said they would make sure city hustlers benefit from economic programmes he will put in place if elected.
He sustained his attacks on President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila, accusing them of misplaced priorities since their ‘handshake’ in 2018. He said they were not in sync with the hardships facing most Kenyans.
Kenyans challenges
“Nairobi is a city of hustlers ... The ‘handshake’ brothers have never slept hungry, they have never walked kilometers looking for jobs. That is why they are telling us it is better to change the Constitution to create positions instead of coming with economic policies to improve the lives of Kenyans,” said Ruto.
He said he understood the challenges inundating the poor and was better placed to provide solutions to them. “You should elect a leader who understands the challenges of most Kenyans, not a child of privilege,” he added.
Ruto has often passed himself off as a hustler, owing to his humble upbringing in Uasin Gishu, although he has risen to become one of the richest men in Kenya.
The DP also asked the government to stop harassing boda boda riders, saying the hundreds of motorcycles impounded during the crackdown a week ago should be released immediately. The onslaught was launched after a group of riders molested a woman on Prof Wangari Maathai Road in Nairobi, after she was involved in a traffic accident.
Ruto asked the government to apply the same force in finding and arresting those who stole billions of money allocated to the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency for Covid-19 response programmes.
Ruto was accompanied by Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi and a number of lawmakers and aspirants allied to Kenya Kwanza Alliance. They included Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki, Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua, Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja and Bishop Margaret Wanjiru.
