Rebel ODM MPs at the Coast have pledged unwavering support for Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid.
They said they are ready to pay any cost for their stand, even losing ODM seats.
The MPs include Aisha Jumwa (Malindi), Suleiman Dori (Msambweni), Owen Baya (Kilifi North), Paul Katana (Kaloleni) and Michael Kingi (Magarini) .
They said they don’t understandt why their support for the DP is creating anxiety among ODM party’s top brass.
The legislators spoke on Tuesday when they accompanied the DP on his tour of Lamu.
In a unanimous show of defiance, the MPs said they are ready to lose their seats if that is the price they must pay for supporting Ruto.
Jumwa said Coast people have suffered immense segregation under “some political parties and leaders” who pretended to care, only to receive support from the high number of voters in the region.
She said the time has come for Coast people to choose and support leadership that will involve them and one that promises them more than what others have.
She derided the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga, asking why the same handshake shouldn’t be extended to other leaders if it aims for unity and prosperity.
Jumwa asked Odinga to explain the meaning of the handshake in detail so that Kenyans can understand what it is and make choices.
She said she sees no crime in working with Ruto just as Raila is working with Uhuru.
“When the handshake took place, we all felt it was the beginning of a new era, one of peace and unity among all people irrespective of their political allegiance. Turns out I was wrong. It seems like it was just for a few people and not for uniting Kenyans,” the MP said.
“That’swhy some of us are being expelled for shaking hands with the DP.
We deserve to know what the handshake was really about. But I am ready for anything they decide since I have done no wrong. The people of the Coast deserve better.”
Msambweni MP Dori said he would not tire in his support for Ruto and would drum up support for him among Coast people.
“The DP has proved his love and commitment to the people of the Coast. He has promised to end all our misery. We shouldn’t be swayed by anybody or anything. Don’t dwell on what you read in the papers or see on TV. What’s for sure is that we are ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice if that’s what it takes to bring change home. We are with the DP to the end,” Dori said.
Kilifi North MP Baya said with Ruto at the helm of the country, the Coast will for once reap from its numerous resources.
“The DP is a worthy leader and definitely a worthy president of this country come 2022. We, as Coast people, have so much in terms of resources, but all these haven’t been used as required to benefit us,” he said.
“People must understand that we have a right to choose whom to support. It is not by force and we choose the DP.”
Kaloleni MP Katana rebuked critics of the Coast legislators’ support for the DP, saying they will remain firm.
“Let’s keep working with the DP.Those who love to talk will keep doing it but we want the best for our people and this region and we are sure the DP will deliver,”Katana said.
“I will keep walking with the DP. It is only through him that this region will receive the respect and attention it deserves,” Magarini MP Michael Kingi said.
Other MPs present during Ruto’s Lamu tour were Benjamin Tayari (Kinango), Kassim Tandaza (Matuga), Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga), Jones Mlolwa (Voi), Ali Wario (Bura), Athman Sharif (Lamu East), Lamu woman rep Ruweida Obbo and her Kilifi counterpart Gertrude Mbeyu and Lamu senator Anwar Loitiptip.
Jumwa and Dori were last month quizzed by the ODM disciplinary committee for gross misconduct following their public display of support for DP Ruto.
The committee proposed that the two be expelled alongside seven ODM county assembly reps on similar grounds. They will plead their case before the party National Executive Council next year and if the decision by the party’s disciplinary committee is upheld by the NEC, they will lose their seats.