- Ruto also challenged the ODM chief to be ready to accept the presidential election results.
- He dismissed Raila’s claims that he has been dishing out handouts to the youth and business groups, saying that ‘pocket change’ should not bother him at all.
Deputy President William Ruto on Thursday pitched camp in Machakos, where he dismissed ODM leader Raila Odinga as "sponsored project".
The DP, who camped in Wiper chief Kalonzo Musyoka’s Ukambani backyard, said Kenyans will use the August 9 General Election to affirm that they have the final say in the country’s leadership.
“Irrespective of how rich you are, you cannot decide for Kenyans. Those people who sit in hotels in Nairobi purporting to decide for Kenyans have only one vote like a mama mboga,” the DP said.
Speaking when he made a string of campaign stopovers across the county, Ruto railed at Raila, accusing him of sponsoring violence to intimidate rivals.
“We want to make it clear that in our election equation there is no violence. I want to ask ODM and its party leader to disown violence. He can’t be giving excuses about violence,” Ruto said in Tala.
The second in command added that no leader can be elected based on violence, saying those known to have the track record of violence must now change tack and embrace policy discourse instead of throwing stones.
Ruto also challenged Raila to be ready to accept the presidential election results, which he said will affirm the will of the people in favour of his hustler movement.
"They must commit that they will accept the verdict of the people of Kenya, and they won't swear themselves in and will not organise demonstrations, " he said.
Raila held a mock swearing-in after the disputed 2017 presidential election results in which President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto controversially won after the ODM boss boycotted a repeat poll.
During Ruto’s tour on Thursday, he also pledged to form an inclusive government if he wins the presidency.
The DP asked the Kamba nation to reject Raila, who he said had betrayed Kalonzo many times, asking them to embrace his bottom-up economic model.
Ruto said his revolutionary economic approach will empower the poor from the bottom, create bigger tax base so that Kenyans can pay taxes to run government and provide services.
“We have more than four million jobless Kenyans who have slipped into drug abuse because of lack of jobs. Our priority will be to give them jobs and not to amend the Constitution.”
The DP added that the priority of any presidential aspirant should be to fix the economy and create jobs instead of leading the clamour to amend the law to create positions of power.
“A presidential election is not a beauty contest. It is about a track record. I am Deputy President and he has been a Prime Minister, [but] I can show my track record, where is his score card?” Ruto said.
He dismissed Raila’s claims that he has been dishing out handouts to the youth and business groups, saying that "pocket change" should not bother him.
“You don’t understand. Don’t complain of Sh2 million, that is small money. This year we will inject Sh50 billion to the small and micro-small enterprises.”
(edited by Amol Awuor)