Deputy President William Ruto has scaled up his onslaught on opposition leader Raila Odinga and branded those pushing for constitutional change as lazy and
incompetent.
“Lazy and incompetent people who don’t want to work hard, and incompetent people who can’t formulate programmes, and those who lose elections want to use the Constitution as their bogeyman,”Ruto said at the Third Annual Legislative Summit in
Mombasa yesterday.
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Buoyed by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s opposition to the referendum, Ruto said those pushing for the law change are bitter election losers. In apparent reference to the former Prime Minister, Ruto said Kenyans must be wary of “politicians who use the Constitution as a bogeyman”.
Ruto and Raila are locked in a nasty political duel that could jeopardize the handshake deal that was meant to, among others, pacify the country and refocus on
development.
On Monday, Raila allies launched a scathing attack on the DP, branding him Kenya’s enemy number one, in a vicious escalation of hostilities since the March 9 truce.
The five ODM MPs claimed Ruto’s grudge-bearing and vindictive character, bad record in office and his tolerance of graft were his biggest impediments to his State House bid, not Raila.
“They [Ruto team] 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, the Luhya, the Abagusi and the Luos living in the Rift Valley,” claimed Kwale Woman Representative Zuleikha Hassan.
In a signal of the looming bitter political contest, Senate Majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen said Raila has now turned his focus on the Kalenjin community after running a campaign against the Kikuyu’s in three previous elections.
It’s believed the rivalry between the two is linked to the 2022 presidential election, and the clamour for the Kikuyu vote.
After the truce with President Uhuru, Raila has increasingly become cosy with the Mount Kenya leaders, sending jitters in Ruto’s inner circle. However, Raila has asked Kenyans to refuse to be distracted by the politics of 2022 and instead support the handshake dubbed Building bridges to a new Kenyan future.
Yesterday, Ruto said he is not willing to discuss the referendum issue, which has pitted him against the ODM team, but noted the changes must be people-driven: “...it must be about them it must not be about us. We have to be honest and sincere”.
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