President William Ruto has welcomed Raila Odinga's recent criticism of his performance in the first 100 days of his administration.
Speaking on Sunday during an Interdenominational Christmas Church Service in Eldoret, Ruto said that's exactly what the Opposition should be doing.
"Mimi na hawa tuliochaguliwa nao tunang'ang'ana na hii ya serikali. Mimi nafurahi pia wale ndugu zetu wa upinzani wanang'ang'ana pia na ile ya upinzani. Nimeona wanakazana wanajaribu kutukosoa, hiyo ni mzuri. Wametupatia marks hapo, hiyo ni sawa," Ruto said.
(Me and those I was elected with are doing our work in government, and I I'm happy those in the opposition are also striving to do their work. I have seen they are correcting us and have given us marks and that's good)
On December 22, Raila released a statement dubbed 'One Hundred Days to Nowhere' in which he criticised the Kenya Kwanza administration for failing to live up to expectation.
In the statement, Raila said the first 100 days of the Kenya Kwanza regime have been marked by the pronouncements, actions, and policy failures that evidence a troubling trend line across the spectrum.
"This is a below average regime. On a scale of 1-10, we would grade the regime at four points," Raila said.
Among Kenya Kwanza's shortfalls the ODM cited include the failure to fix the economy and lower the cost of living, cancellation of subsidies and stimulus packages.
"With the cancellation of subsidies, the government effectively pulled the life support from the mouths of millions of Kenyans and left them on their own. In these 100 days, the government pulled more Kenyans out of the frying pan and threw them into the frying pan," Raila said.
Ruto withdrew subsidies on fuel, electricity and school fees and terminated Pesa ya Wazee and Linda Mama programmes.
Raila said the Azimio camp does not believe that the economic interventions the Kenya Kwanza regime has introduced are in tandem with what it promised on the campaign trail.
But in response, Ruto said he is happy that the opposition is working for Kenyans as is rightfully expected of them by pointing out what is wrong in governmnet.
"Na mimi nataka niwahakikishie hawa ndungu zetu wa upinzani, tuko tayari kabisa mfanye yenyu sisi tufanye yetu ndio Kenya iweze kwenda mbele."
(I would like to assure my brothers in the opposition that we are ready to do our job as you do yours so that the country can move forward)
The President, however, blamed the handshake for the prevailing economic hardships and rising debt crisis facing the country at the moment.
"So ni mzuri kuwa na watu wengine wa kupiga makelele upande ingine, hiyo ni mzuri sana," Ruto said.
(So it's good to have some people make noise on the other side)
He nonetheless encouraged the opposition to continue holding the Kenya Kwanza administration accountable for everything it has done or failed to do.
"Kukuwa kwa upinzani sio makosa, iko kwa katiba (Being in the opposition is not bad, it's in the Constitution," he said.
