•The President toured Murang'a and Nyeri counties where he inspected various government projects.
•He said it us up to locals to decide whether they want to be led by leaders who lie and loot or leaders of integrity who will ensure their children prosper.
Image: PSCU/ Twitter
As Azimio La Umoja alliance concluded its campaigns with a rally at Kasarani Stadium, president Uhuru Kenyatta made a last minute attempt to convince Central Kenya residents to vote for Raila Odinga.
The president visited Murang’a and Nyeri counties to inspect government projects including the Kenol Sagana Marua dual carriage way that is on-going, Mwai Kibaki referral hospital, a subsidiary of Kenyatta National Hospital and Chaka market.
While addressing Murang’a residents, the President who took the chance to campaign for Raila said a country cannot be developed through lies and propaganda but through the effort and co-operation of all.
He said locals have been deceived that he has been conspiring to hold on to power, saying he fell out with his deputy William Ruto due to his insistence to continue playing politics even after they were re-elected.
“The people of Murang’a, I have come to thank you for the work we have done together even though with challenges… I am telling you the truth, you have been lied to by people some of whom we were voted in together and I even brought them to you and asked for your support”.
“If we fell out, it is because I told them we had to work after we were elected and do politics later but they decided to play politics anyway because that is the way they are,” he said in the local dialect.
He said Kenyans should not take for granted the peace the country has had since 2017 especially considering they voted twice in the last elections.
He said he decided to embrace dialogue with Raila to end the tension that followed the elections and ensure Kenyans lived in peace.
He accused Ruto of abdicating his duties and focusing on spreading lies and propaganda, leaving him with half a government to run the country.
“For the last three years, he did not work… I am saying this with a clean heart. I did not give Raila a single government position. I continued with the government as it was, with the same people”.
“I sat with Raila to establish what was causing our people to fight and he told me that only a few communities were taking over power and I told him that though the region had led twice, it has been fighting to lead due to the suffering it had suffered,” he added.
He said his decision to champion the Building Bridges Initiative was an attempt to leave things in a better position for the region but that it caused him to be accused of wanting to hold on to power
BBI, he pointed out, would have made it possible for all Kenyans to get an equal share of government revenue.
“In Maragua, I am sure your children are not getting any more than Sh. 2,000 in bursaries yet there are some who get Sh. 50,000 or even Sh. 100,000. We tried to equalise this so all children can get an equal chance to education but you were deceived and convinced to accept wheelbarrows”.
Murang’a people, he said, have a chance to decide whether they want to be led by leaders who lie and loot or leaders of integrity who will ensure their children prosper.
He praised Raila’s running mate Karua as a fearless leader who will ensure the interests of the region are catered to.
“Martha and I clash sometimes because of our divergent minds but we agree on the main things. As older people, we have been left to care for our grandchildren but as youths, ensure you don’t bring up your children in problems,” the president told Murang’a people.
The president last visited the county in April when he attended a service at the AIPCA church during its annual National Holy Oil Consecration Ceremony at Gakarara in Kandara.
Murang’a governor Mwangi wa Iria who recently joined Azimio la Umoja after his presidential bid flopped said it is time for the region to come together and make a unified decision.
He accused Kenya Kwanza leaders of targeting the president and using the chance as their entry point into the region.
“They started with the President who is the leader of our community to allow them to penetrate the region. Never before had we seen leaders spitting on a president. Even the Bible says a leader of a nation has to be respected unconditionally,” he said.
Leaders vying for various seat through the Jubilee party including Jamleck Kamau (governor), Kembi Gitura (senator), Waithira Muithirania (Woman Representative), Anthony Chege (Maragua MP) and Karanja Wamatangi (Kiharu MP) were in attendance.