Former Kisii Governor James Ongwae has told Azimio leader Raila Odinga to give President William Ruto time to execute pledges he made to the electorate.
Ongwae said six months in office was still a short period for Raila to reach a verdict that Ruto has failed.
Ongwae was speaking during a burial at Sombogo in Kitutu Chache North on Friday.
"We have a president in office, let's all support him, as an expert in management myself my advice to Raila is this you cannot start criticising someone's performance six months into office, let's be fair, let's give the president time, am sure he will change this country," Ongwae said.
"It's unnecessary to throw tantrums at this stage."
He instead called for peaceful discourses where issues can be genuinely discussed so the country is not balkanised.
" Going to the streets, instigating demonstrations is unhelpful in times like this," he said.
On Friday, Raila vowed to continue piling pressure on President Ruto’s administration to ease the cost of living, reduce taxes and become more inclusive.
He has already crafted the Movement for the Defence of Democracy as the political outfit that he will use to push for reforms in the government.
He promised peaceful protests, sit-ins and boycotts of some products and companies as part of the push.
He vowed a grand demo on March 20 in Nairobi.
Ongwae said such street demos were a distraction to the Ruto government urging Raila to give them a break.
"They cannot help us move an inch forward, they are just a distraction," he stated.
Speaking on local politics, Ongwae told his predecessor Simba Arati to begin securing his legacy instead of dwelling in the past.
He accused Arati of orchestrating a smear campaign against him saying this could be unhelpful in the long run.
"My plain advice is that he should take charge of the county and begin serving the people, not nitpicking what I did and what I did not during my term in office as a governor," Ongwae said.
The former County boss said he has noted with concern that ever since Arati was sworn into office, much of his energy has been directed at criticizing everything he did during his ten years in office.
"We are not angels, each leader is bound to make mistakes but this should not be his song. In an ideal situation each person should concentrate on building their legacy," Ongwae said.
On Thursday, Kisii Governor Simba Arati faulted Ongwae for approving payments for projects not done or completed while he was in office.
A special committee doing a pending bills audit has since recommended a scale-down in the payments from Sh1.6 billion to Sh235 million for projects done and completed.
Arati says he is still scrutinizing projects worth sh130 million done by contractors without credible papers if they deserve payments.
He faulted officers who served under Ongwae for orchestrations graft through payments for projects.
Arati further vowed to surrender all officers cited adversely in the report to the authorities for action.
"Forgiveness can only come from God, not me. I would only ensure that justice is done by handing you to courts for prosecution," he said in a televised function.
On Friday, however, Ongwae said he did his bit as a governor with a clean heart and must be left in peace.
"I am now out of the office, let whoever is in office do his part," Ongwae said.
