Deputy President William Ruto is courting Coast MCAs in his numerous trips to the region.
About 20 elected legislators, out of 30 at the Coast, have indicated they would support Ruto in his bid for president in 2022.
Coast leaders who lean toward Ruto’s camp — or outright endorse him — have been accused of going for money, which they deny.
On Sunday, after a four-day tour of Kilifi, Tana River, Kwale and Mombasa counties, where he launched numerous projects, Ruto flew to Taita Taveta county.
He met with all the Taita Taveta MCAs at the Voi Wildlife Lodge.
The resolution of the meeting, of which the Star has a copy, shows the MCAs gave Ruto nine demands.
They include a waiver of Sh400 million that Taita Taveta owes the Coast Water Services Board. They also want Taita residents to get jobs on the standard gauge railway.
Therefore, do not bring confusion. The Handshake is not a license to allow ODM to bring confusion, propaganda and conmanship into our party,” Ruto said .
But Mombasa governor Hassan Joho yesterday denounced the DP for disrespecting Raila.
“How the hell do you call Raila a conman? We know that you have an ill motive to disrupt the gains made since Raila and President Uhuru signed a deal. We know your plans,” Joho said.
The governor said Ruto should be prepared for the worst. “We want to tell him that he shall see dust during the 2022 campaigns,” he said.
“We know that he is preparing the ground so that when we call for a referendum, he will already have masses behind him,” Joho said.
Yesterday, Ruto claimed that the Opposition was in panic mode because of his close working relations with Coast leaders.
Ruto said the “Opposition suffers panic attacks whenever he tours the region.
He said it was ironic that the Opposition was talking of uniting the country yet at the same time in the process of disciplining some MPs for working with him.
The DP spoke in Voi. He said he would continue associating with all leaders of different backgrounds for the country’s development.
He asked the Opposition to stop pretending to be the ones spearheading the fight against corruption.
“The Constitution is clear; we have independent institutions charged with the fight against corruption, resources wastage and mismanagement,” he said.