Baringo Senator Gideon Moi yesterday said Rift Valley people no longer trust Deputy President William Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta should now deal with them directly.
The Kanu chairman said Ruto no longer commands the respect and support of many people in the region, especially the Kalenjin "who find him arrogant and condescending".
The Rift Valley has long been considered Ruto's turf but his support is no longer rock solid. He and Moi are engaged in a supremacy battle to control the vote bloc. Both have declared they will run for President in 2022.
Moi said Ruto has created many enemies and pushed away many people who supported Jubilee in the last election.
"If the President wants votes from this region, he should come to the people directly himself," he advised.
The senator spoke on the same day Uhuru and Ruto toured the North Rift region of Nandi where they launched development projects and denounced critics.
"Ignore those people who come here to tell you we have done nothing. Stay in Jubilee for development," Ruto said at in Kaptembo in Nandi, where he toured with the President.
Moi said the fact that Ruto's aide Farouk Kibet and close ally Senator Kipchumba Murkomen have been linked to the NYS scandal was reason enough for Uhuru to be worried. The allegations have caused disquiet in the region, he said.
While Ruto has at times dismissed Moi as a joke, the Kanu leader has been slowly but steadily eroding Ruto's support in the populous South Rift Kalenjin region. This is especially so in Kericho and Bomet where the senator is working with Governor Isaac Ruto who heads the CCM party.
The Baringo lawmaker predictablyenjoys the most support in his own county and neighbouring West Pokot.
During the Kericho Senate by-elections in February this year, Kanu came a close second and has since popularised itself in the region, promising a clean sweep there next year.
Two weeks ago Ruto was booed in Nandi where he was inspecting development projects.
Yesterday Moi asked Ruto to stop insulting him and his father, retired President Daniel Moi, and instead respond to real issues about his leadership style.
"He should make a public apology," the senator said.
Kanu secretary general Nick Salat joined the attack yesterday, accusing Ruto of disrespecting other elected Rift leaders.
"What Ruto is doing is unacceptable and we will not allow that to continue. We are telling the President to take note that his deputy is fast losing his popularity and will not be able to marshal the votes he did in the last election," Salat told the Star on the phone.
Meanwhile, President Kenyatta told Nandi residents the Jubilee government's infrastructure projects and other developments will not be slowed by the opposition's noise.
The President told off the opposition over claims his administration has done little in development, saying the country has witnessed more development projects in the last three years than at any other time in its history.
“While our opponents are devoting all their energies to how to share political positions, our focus has all a long been on implementing projects including infrastructure, health, energy, agriculture and education because our main aim is to lift the lives of Kenyans,” he said.
Uhuru launched tarmacking of key roads to link Nandi, Uasin Gishu and Kakamega counties.
He flagged off upgrading of the Kaptembo–Rivatex road and the Kaiboi-Kipkaren River Junction roads at Kaptembo in Nandi. The two will cost Sh3.7 billion.
The President also launched tarmacking of a road running through Danger to Kimondi and Chemuswa.
He said the government intends to construct 200km tarmacked roads in Nandi, compared to the 70km done since independence.
The administration is determined to construct tarmacked roads countrywide to attract investors and create jobs for youth, Uhuru said.
Saying the time for empty talk and political rhetoric is long gone, the President said Kenyans will vote for Jubilee because they have witnessed concrete progress everywhere.
He called "baseless lies" the opposition's assertions that the Kenya Cooperative Creameries has been sold.
“Some people thrive on lies for political mileage but they forget the truth has a way of always coming to the fore,” Kenyatta said.
The government has allocated Sh500 million to KCC to ensure dairy farmers are paid their dues, he said.
Kenyatta said the Last Mile electricity connectivity project has increased the number of Nandi households connected to power from 16 per cent in 2013 to 32 per cent in 2016.
“We have also set aside Sh1 billion to step up electricity connections in Nandi county to reach the national average of 70 per cent," he said. The same is happening everywhere, the President said.
“Even in Bondo, Raila Odinga’s neighbours are enjoying electricity connected by the Jubilee government,” he said.
DP Ruto defended Jubilee’s development record, saying Kenyans will vote for it in the next election because of life is improving everywhere.