Deputy President William Ruto said yesterday he does not need to consult anybody to visit any part of Kenya.
Speaking in Kilifi when he presided over a fundraising for the publication of a Giriama bible, Ruto brushed off those who count the number of times he visits the Coast. He said he will visit the region “even a thousand times”.
“We have people who count the number of times I visit the Coast region. Let them do so if they get paid to do that. I do not have to ask anybody because I was elected to serve this country,” Ruto said.
Read:
He said his visits are meant to foster development and not campaign for 2022.
A new version of the Giriama bible which cost more than Sh84 million and took 14 years to translate will be out in March next year.
The bible was an initiative of Kilifi North MP Owen Baya’s father. It new version is currently in the US for verification before being printed.
Shipment of the first 5,000 copies will be done before mid-next year and will be supplied to churches in the Coast region.
Bible Translation and Literacy and a team of church ministers and religious leaders said they were proud to have accomplished the project.
Ruto together with 14 Coast MPs accompanying him helped raise the remaining Sh4.5 million required to complete printing and shipment during the fundraiser at Karisa Maitha grounds.
Hundreds of faithful attended the fundraising. Ruto donated Sh2.5 million and informed the meeting the sum included President Uhuru Kenyatta’s contribution.
Watch:
Kilifi governor Amason Kingi raised Sh700,000 including his personal donation of Sh200,000.
The legislators together raised over Sh200,000, while Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa donated Sh100,000.
Ruto said he was happy to be part of the history making to mark the first Bible translated in the Giriama language.
The DP said he was ready to support initiatives of translating the Bible to all languages.
“When the Bible was translated, I was part and parcel of those who made it happen. I hail the elders who stood firm to translate it,” he said.
Ruto quoted former South Africa President Nelson Mandela saying, “If you speak to a man in a language he understands, it goes to the mind, but if it’s read in his own language it will go to his heart.”
National director of Bible Translation and Literacy Rev Peter Munguti said the idea of a Giriama bible was first made public in 2004.
More:
