- Pro handshake MPs claim the narrative is divisive as it pits the poor - the vast majority of Kenyans - against the rich - a privileged few.
- Kamanda rejected claims that Ruto has made inroads in Central Kenya
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Lawmakers allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga yesterday kept hammering away against Deputy President William Ruto, condemning his hustler movement as divisive.
The Nairobi lawmakers led by nominated MP Maina Kamanda said categorising Kenyans as rich vs poor, hustlers versus dynasties, go-getters vs the entitled, undermines the unity of the country. They said it should be shunned by all right-minded people.
“Kenya is a united country and we will not tolerate anyone who tries to divide us into the poor versus the rich,” Kamanda said and other said on Sunday at a Mathare church services.
Ruto's opponents are in overdrive trying to debunk what they call the hustler myth that resonates with many people.
His opponents say people should rely on state development and promises of big state job creation - which hasn't materialised under two terms of the Jubilee administeration, of which Ruto is,or was, a part.
The Deputy President William has fired up his 2022 presidential campaigns around the hustler movement narrative, which is meant to appeal to the majority poor, who are hardworkers, looking for any opportunity.
DP’s lieutenants have billed the 2022 Presidential race a contest between the hustlers and dynasties in which Ruto represents the hustlers.
“What kind of leader is okay with people fighting and dying and he still continues with his church service like nothing is going on?" he asked.
It was an apparent reference to the Muranga violence in which two men were killed when rival groups clashed on October 4 ahead of the DP's visit to a church.
Kamanda dismissed claims the DP has gained ground in President Uhuru Kenyatta's Central backyard, saying he will get the shock of his life.
“You cannot convince yourself that you have the support of Mt Kenya because it is still two years to the election. When 2022 comes, I will take my candidate and we will go to Mt Kenya and you will realise you have nothing,” Kamanda said.
He added,“People do not just become President at the first try. You have to try several times and maybe at the fourth try you will get it.”
The nominated lawmaker spoke when he led a section of Nairobi MPs allied to the handshake to a church service at Ngei PAG Church in Mathare Consitutency.
The MPs included Tim Wanyonyi (Westlands), Esther Passaris (Nairobi Woman Representative), George Aladwa (Makadara), Anthony Oluoch (Mathare), Imran Okoth (Kibra), Babu Owino (Embakasi East) and former Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru.
The leaders also said the country is not ready for the ‘wheelbarrow’ politics being spearheaded by the DP.
“We saw on TV that other youth in Kenya are even manufacturing guns but Ruto is giving our youth wheelbarrows. If you are given the wheelbarrow, take it then sell it and keep the money,” Oluoch said.
The leaders called on Kenyans to support the Building Bridges Initiative once it is made public, saying the initiative will unite the country.
Kamanda also called on the church not to be cheated with money donations whose sources are questionable.
(Edited by V. Graham)