NASA leader Raila Odinga’s allies have launched a scathing attack on Deputy President William Ruto, branding him Kenya’s enemy number one in a vicious escalation of hostilities since the famous March 9 handshake.
On Sunday, Ruto fired the first salvo, indirectly referring to Raila as a “loser” who is plotting a referendum to create top executive political positions for his selfish interests.
Ruto was responding to Raila’s statement during a public lecture in London that NASA had won the 2017 presidential election.
But speaking at a funds drive at St Francis Cheptarit Catholic Church in Nandi county, Ruto said the problem with Kenya is not the law, but “ambitious politicians with dictatorial tendencies who participate in elections but cannot accept the results”.
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Yesterday, Raila’s lieutenants came out guns blazing. They claimed the DP’s grudge-bearing and vindictive character, bad record in office and his tolerance of graft were he biggest impediments tohis State House ambitions.
Five opposition MPs — Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay MP), Antony Oluoch (Mathare), Godfrey Osotsi (ANC, nominated), Florence Mutua (Busia Woman Representative) and Zuleikha Hassan (Kwale Woman Representative) — accused the DP of holding the government and the country hostage.
Speaking at Raila’s Capitol Hill Square offices, the legislators in a no-holds-barred attack sensationally linked the DP to an alleged threat of eviction of communities from Rift Valley if his (Ruto’s) 2022 presidential hopes are dashed.
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“They are blackmailing President Uhuru Kenyatta and the people of Kenya that if Ruto’s wish to be President is not granted, they will target and evict the Kikuyu, Luhya, Abagusi and Luos living in the Rift Valley,” claimed Zuleikha.
Oluoch said Ruto has extended the blackmail to retired President Daniel Moi’s family, threatening them with unspecified consequences if the family does not support his 2022 bid.
“We have all heard of how government tenders beyond Sh100 million cannot be awarded without Ruto’s express directions and that includes the ongoing saga of the NYS scandal,” Oluoch said.
“Senior public officers and other civil servants are constantly living in fear of losing their jobs because of Ruto’s phone calls.”
Ruto’s right-hand man, Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah swiftly rubbished the blackmail claims by the opposition MPs.
He instead accused Raila of thriving on holding the nation hostage to satisfy his “raw and unchecked ambition for power”.
“If there is anyone holding the nation hostage and using threats on Kenyans, it is Odinga himself who in his statement from the ODM meeting in Naivasha threatened the nation saying that, “If we do not have constitutional reforms (as defined by himself), 2022 will be messy and chaotic, worse than 2007-08,” Ichung’wah told the Star.
“Odinga should and must remain true to the spirit of reconciling this nation around the building bridges initiative and do so with sincerity, devoid of political brinkmanship and deceit.”
Ruto and Raila have been at loggerheads since the March 9 handshake between Uhuru and Raila. The DP’s allies have alleged a plot to scuttle Ruto’s 2022 chances and termed Raila’s peace gesture as a plot to reposition himself for 2022.
Both Uhuru and Raila have said their handshake deal is not related to 20202, saying it was meant to unite a country sharply divided after the 2017 polls.
Ruto at first supported Uhuru and Raila’s unity deal, but has recently openly expressed suspicion of Raila’s motives after the former Prime Minister proposed consitutional reforms to realise the nine-point agenda agreed with the President. “When you listen to Ruto speak, it reminds us of YK’92 where he was one of those youths in the forefront of opposing reforms,” Osotsi said.
The Ruto camp is opposed to any law change to create another centre of power, which has created friction with Raila’s supporters.
The verbal exchange comes days after Uhuru told a meeting at State House that he has no time to criss-cross the country campaigning for constitutonal reform. The statement seems to have emboldened the anti-referendum group that gravitates to the DP. Uhuru’s position also put the two-month-old handshake in the spotlight as the two leaders seemed to be reading from different scripts.
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