•Ruto opposed the eviction of illegal settlers to conserve the forest, a cabinet decision that was being spearheaded by Raila's office when he was as Prime Minister.
•Raila's lieutenants have always reminded the Maasai community—the strongest proponents for conservation efforts—of Ruto stand then to the chagrin of the DP
Image: DPPS
Deputy President William Ruto on Tuesday accused ODM leader Raila Odinga and his Azimio brigade of incitement over the Mau forest in Narok.
Ruto said the former Prime Minister is inciting the communities and sowing tribal seeds against him over the contentious forest.
“I want to tell the Azimio people to stop incitement and look for an agenda to sell to the Narok people,” he said.
The UDA boss said the Mau forest issue was now in the past and told the Azimio brigade not to cling to it for votes.
“What is remaining is fencing the forest and we settle the issue. We want to plan the development of Kenya and unite all Narok residents,” he said.
Ruto opposed the eviction of illegal settlers to conserve the forest, a Cabinet decision that was spearheaded by Raila's office when he was Prime Minister.
Raila's lieutenants have always reminded the Maasai community — the strongest proponents for conservation efforts — of Ruto’s stand then, to the chagrin of the DP.
“When Azimio people come here they only incite people. Look for agendas or you will lose and complain your votes have been stolen,” Ruto said.
The DP spoke during the campaign launch of UDA Narok governor aspirant Patrick Ntutu at Olopirik Farm in Narok West subcounty.
He was accompanied by the Kenya Kwanza Alliance brigade.
Last month, Raila accused Ruto of frustrating the government’s efforts to resettle Mau forest evictees.
In 2019, the government evicted more than 35, 000 people and reclaimed 40-hectare forest land – the country’s biggest water catchment area.
As Prime Minister, Raila led the government efforts in reclaiming the forest. However, the excise was severely criticised by the DP and his allies, who accused the government of inhumane evictions.
The DP asked the residents to reject any attempts to divide them along tribal lines, saying attempts to sow such seeds will fail.
Ruto told the residents to reject the ODM leader at the ballot, saying he has reached his sunset days in politics.
“If someone has not built any road, not connected homes to electricity or built a hospital, how will he do it now when he is 80 years old?” he asked.
The DP told the residents that together with President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Jubilee administration constructed 400km of tarmac roads.
The government, he said, increased electricity connectivity to 90,000 from 21,000 people and supplied medical equipment worth Sh500 million to hospitals in the country.
He said if elected, he will build on the foundation to expand the road network in the country and beyond.
Ruto rooted for his bottom-up economic model, saying the blueprint will turn around the country’s fortunes.
“Kenya Kwanza government will put money in the pockets of the ordinary people,” he said.
He said his administration will focus on job creation by pumping Sh100 billion into housing, agro-processing and value addition to create jobs for millions of jobless youths.
In addition, Sh50 million will be set aside towards providing credit to micro and small scale traders to power the lot economically.
“We are starting with people who are at the bottom,” he said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris