Speaking on Tuesday in Lodwar, Turkana County, Ruto said the project was
implemented during the Jubilee administration, when he deputised then President
Uhuru Kenyatta.
Ruto said Kalonzo is misleading Kenyans over the ownership of the road project.
“He (Kalonzo) says he is the one who launched the construction of the Kibwezi-Maua
road. I want to tell him to go look for fools. There are no fools in Kenya,”
Ruto said.
“That road was constructed by Uhuru Kenyatta and I when we took the reins of
government, and we have the evidence.”
The President’s remarks come hours after Kalonzo claimed credit for initiating the road during his tenure as Vice President.
Speaking on Monday, Kalonzo said he facilitated the engagement of a Chinese contractor to construct the route linking Kibwezi, Mutomo, Kitui, Mwingi and Tseikuru, which he said forms part of a corridor connecting Ethiopia to the Port of Mombasa.
“The 40 years (in public
service) were of serious experience. When I was vice president, I launched the
construction and got a Chinese contractor, Sinohydro, to build the road,”
Kalonzo explained.
“The road runs from Kibwezi
to Mutomo, to Kitui, to Mwingi, to Tseikuru to Maua. That road links Ethiopia
with Mombasa.”
Ruto, however, maintained that the project was delivered under the Jubilee
government, where he served as Deputy President, and said official records back
that position.
The exchange has added to the growing political sparring between the two
leaders, with infrastructure development increasingly becoming a focal point in
debates over past and present leadership records.
The spat stemming from road
construction began on Sunday when Ruto said the opposition leader had no
authority to lecture him on matters of development.
The President claimed the
road leading to Kalonzo’s home is yet to be tarmacked despite his long tenure
in politics.
"There are those saying
we can't achieve all that I have announced. I want to tell them that they are
the ones who can't achieve anything. They have no plan. It would be
unreasonable to wait for someone who has never developed his rural road,” the
President said.
“The road leading to his home is dusty and muddy, and he has been in power for decades. If he can't develop his rural road, where will he get the smartness to plan development for Kenya? That is why they argue it is impossible, because they have never planned anything.”
