ODM should keep off Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba’s affairs and allow him to chart his own political path, DP William Ruto has said.
Ruto said the Labour Party of Kenya leader
has the right to choose which politicians and party to associate with, just like any other Kenyan.
He said the Orange party should accord the former secretary general freedom to associate with whoever he wants to, irrespective of their political inclinations.
“You do not go around, day in day out, criticising somebody because they left some party,” the DP said in Ababu's constituency on Friday.
“These people should leave you alone. What matters to us is development, not cheap propaganda,” he further told Ababu.
He addressed a crowd
at Mudonga village in West Bunyala sublocation after launching
the
government’s Last Mile Connectivity Programme.
Ruto said he had no doubt that the lawmaker
will collaborate with Jubilee Party to help transform the lives of the people of Budalang’i and the country as a whole.
He assured Ababu that Jubileewill stand with him regardless of the opposition he will encounter from former allies in his bid to defend his seat.
Ababu resigned from ODM in July citing frustration and betrayal by ODM leader Raila Odinga and other party members. He said this hampered his efforts to transform the party.
“The reason I have become a traitor is because they never expected a Luhya, just like Mudavadi to rise in the party,"
Ababu
said at the time.
"They expected us to applaud, follow and support them forever. I became an enemy when they realised I was poised to win the position.”
There was speculation that he would join Jubilee but he said he was interested and wanted to create his own outfit.
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Since leaving ODM, the MP
has faced criticism from a section of the party’s top leaders who accuse him of being insincere.
His critics said he dumped the party which
sponsored him to Parliament in 2007 and 2013.
Suba MP and ODM national chairman John Mbadi and his Gem counterpart Jakoyo Midiwo vowed to teach Ababu a political lesson by campaigning against him and ensuring he does not return to Parliament in 2017.
Ababu also faced backlash in Busia county after leaving party.
During his visit to Teso North sub-county, he was forced to cut short his speech at Hotel Levantes in Amagoro town after rowdy youths stormed the meeting.
Ababu left ODM together with Paul Otuoma (Funyula) and John Waluke (Sirisia).
The three formed what they called the ‘Third Force’ and ‘Mulembe Consciousness’ movements which, they claimed aimed at uniting the Luhya community ahead of the 2017 elections.
They traversed Western and Coast regions popularising the movement before Otuoma returned to ODM as Waluke joined President Uhuru Kenyatta’s newly launched Jubilee Party.
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