Deputy President William Ruto has warned all the illegal beneficiaries of port business, saying he will revoke their licences if elected president.
Ruto has for the umpteenth time blamed President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga for the transfer of port services from Mombasa to Nairobi and Naivasha.
Ruto said the transfer of port operations took place after the March 9, 2018 Handshake between Uhuru and Raila
He said Uhuru, Raila, and their cronies are the biggest beneficiaries of the changes in the port operations.
Speaking at the Tononoka grounds in Mombasa on Saturday in an event dubbed 'the ukombozi rally,' Ruto said he will revoke all the signed but illegal agreements between the government and private companies at the Port of Mombasa.
"I will issue an executive order to immediately return port operations to Mombasa if elected president in August," he said.
Both Ruto and Raila have pledged to revert port operations as the region is said to have lost more than 7,000 direct jobs due to the 2018 directive by the national government that all transit cargo should be cleared in Nairobi or Naivasha.
During his tour to Mombasa on May 14, Raila pledged to return port services within 100 days.
However, Ruto lashed out at Raila, saying he has been the main advisor to the President for the past four years, but failed miserably.
“The ‘handshake’ government is responsible for the transfer of port operations from Mombasa to Nairobi. The same people who were behind it are now going around the country blaming it on me," Ruto said.
DP Ruto said the Standard Gauge Railway project was hijacked by a few selfish individuals, who wanted to benefit at the expense of innocent Kenyans.
“When President Uhuru and I constructed the SGR, the intention was to open up Kenya's economy, it was never to upset Mombasa and the coastal economy," he said.
On the high cost of living, Ruto said Kenyans cannot put food on the table because of the ‘Handshake.'
"Before the Handshake, the price of a two-kilo packet of maize flour was Sh75, but now it has shot to more than Sh200," Ruto said.
“Those people in Azimio have never slept hungry, they only read about it in newspapers.”
He promised to lower the cost of living and revamp the agricultural sector by reducing the cost of farm inputs.
ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi said the cost of living in Kenya has reached a record high.
"For the first time in the history of our country, the price of unga has surpassed that of sugar," Mudavadi said.
He said the Kenya Kwanza offers hope to Kenyans and promised that they will lower the cost of living by ensuring fuel and food prices go down.
Mudavadi said that they were serious about the issue, adding that the August 9 general election is about an economic revolution.
He said the Kenya Kwanza government will conduct a national audit of all mega infrastructure projects if they capture power.
"We want to find out if we got value for money or somebody benefited from these projects, if so people will be held responsible," Mudavadi said.
Ruto was accompanied by Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetangula, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, Governors Alfred Mutua (Machakos), Salim Mvurya (Kwale), MPs and UDA candidates.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
