President Uhuru Kenyatta in a fiery speech on Wednesday delivered an unequivocal endorsement of ODM leader Raila Odinga for president.
He told Kenyans DP Ruto was linked to graft and stole project funds meant for the people of Mt Kenya and elsewhere. He donated that money to churches, the President said.
For the first time, Uhuru publicly asked his Mt Kenya backyard to strongly support Raila, saying the country would be safer in his hands.
A visibly agitated head of state accused Ruto of running a campaign of lies, fuelled by stolen funds.
“And I ask you, let's support that Mzee [Raila] and push [back] him," the President said.
"Even this, my young man [Ruto], when he gets back on track, we will give him [the seat after Raila]," the President told a delegation of several thousand people from Mt Kenya at the Sagana State Lodge.
It was billed as Sagana III.
As he concluded his his speech, the crowd went into a frenzy and and began singing a Kiswahili song that “all is possible without Ruto."
Uhuru linked Ruto to the multi-billion Kimwarer and Arror dams scandal and claimed the stolen cash was being used to to buy political support in Mt Kenya, including that of the clergy.
Uhuru painted Ruto as the architect of the problems facing Mt Kenya and the country in general, and said he cannot purport to have answers to those problems.
The President, for instance, said the Agriculture ministry was in Ruto and his allies' hands for more than five years during when the critical sector was looted and grounded.
"Because they are saying they are coming to fix that, who has been leading the Agriculture ministry? Is it them or me?" Uhuru asked.
He said his man, CS Peter Munya, has been able to turn around the sector in less than two years.
"When my father left this world, no children had their fees paid in this area. It was their parents who were paying fees through coffee, tea, rice. They [the Kalenjin through Moi] came and destroyed all that. Isn’t it?" Uhuru asked.
Saying he will retire when his term comes to an end in August, Uhuru warned his backyard against making a political choice that they will regret for years.
“... I'm now an old man and will not go back to the ‘political’ field but don’t let your children shed tears like those before us," the President said.
"I am saying that with love, and respect for everyone, without fighting anyone, but haki lazima itasemwa ("Truth must be told)," the President said.
He went on, “In one year and a half under Munya’s leadership, coffee has returns, tea farmers have fertiliser, dairy farmers have a minimum guarantee. It was Sh35, now they are paid Sh45.”
Pyrethrum farmers in Nakuru and Molo and other places where factories had been closed have now opened and they are getting money, Uhuru said.
Before Munya, the ministry was under Ruto’s allies Felix Koskei and Mwangi Kiunjuri.
“Should Munya continue with that job or will we allow the crooks back? Aendelee ama asiendelee? He has reopened all those industries. Where did the money come from? Wasn’t it going to people’s pockets and brought to you?” he asked.
The President said Ruto has been donating funds meant for public projects to churches while using their podiums to peddle lies against his government.
“We all love God and we give whatever we give in offerings, but don’t lie to us because you have been given graft money,” Uhuru told religious leaders.
“And the money you are eating was supposed to be taken to the people of Elgeyo Marakwet for dams. About Sh3 billion so that God’s children can drink water, so they can farm," he said.
"But the money was put in someone’s pocket and then he stands in the church saying I sent [him] with Sh2 million, coming, leading hallelujah songs.”
Ruto has been visiting churches, he said, holding harambees and buying bishops cars as he wooed the church, projecting himself as a God-fearing leader while branding Raila a "witch".
However, his association with the church is meant to hide Ruto's true character as a dishonest and corrupt leader, the President said.
Uhuru said he will no longer stay silent on claims his government has not done anything .
“Tell them being calm doesn’t mean cowardice,” declared Uhuru as he rolled out an aggressive campaign to cut Ruto down to size.
He went on, “They are always dancing on top of vehicles, they don’t work other than [hurling] insults. If you look at where I am headed, and our old men have told you, an old man seated sees further than a boy on a tree.”
The President said when he decided to meet Raila for the March 9, 2018, handshake following the unrest that came after the 2017 general election, Ruto was aware of his plans to quell the chaos that devastated the economy.
“Many don’t know this but I even sourced for funds to try and stop the unrest when others were telling me to continue standing my ground," he said.
The President praised the handshake as the game changer that gave rise to the peace and stability that Kenyans are now enjoying.
“We decided with Raila to find the things that were causing the fights to bring peace. Did I do wrong? Now anybody can do business anywhere. Where did I wrong him?” he asked.
The President sought to project Ruto as the real enemy of the Mt Kenya region, saying the DP vigorously opposed the Building Bridges Initiative that sought to give the region more resources.
With BBI, Uhuru said, the one man one vote principle would have benefited the Mt Kenya region by ensuring more resources were allocated to more populated areas.
“All assemblies passed it, the National Assembly and Senate passed it. If some people take me to court claiming I am after seats, when I will not be there, who will have been deceived?” he asked.
Uhuru warned that Ruto has nothing good to offer except empty rhetoric. He said the Jubilee government has put a smile on the faces of rice farmers.
“Rice farmers who could not sell the crop as rice was being imported from Pakistan are now selling to the government," he said.
"They are now almost getting Sh600 million, the total money they are getting, money that was going to Pakistan, taken there by people who were getting tenders there.
"It is now going to the people of Mwea. And you [Ruto] are telling us you are going to fix that which you failed to fix all those years?”
The President took a swipe at ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi for doing little while he served as Finance minister during the Moi era.
“One of them [Mudavadi] was Finance minister. Tell him, the money he oversaw for all the years he was minister is not even half of what I have allocated to these governors who are here,” Uhuru said.
The President defended his track record that has come under stinging attacks from Ruto, saying he leaves a rich legacy with all the projects of his predecessor completed.
“I requested them kneeling, [saying] that the politicking period will come," he said.
"Let us serve our people. And I want to finish what Kibaki started. There is not a single project Kibaki started I have not completed. And I have added to them,” he said.
They are saying the economy is bad. Kibaki left me a Sh5 trillion economy, today, the person I will hand government to ...will have Sh13 trillion
Uhuru, who faced his Mt Kenya backyard to reverse Ruto’s perceived gains in the region, said under his administration he has achieved tremendous success with the help of Raila.
“I have brought a dual-carriageway to here in Maua. I have built the Lamu port and with it a road to Isiolo, to Nanyuki also so that the people of Nyeri, Nanyuki, Kitui, Meru don’t need to go (to take goods) via Nairobi. That’s what development is,” the President said.
The time has come to showcase his legacy projects, he said.
“You know, they speak to themselves as I don’t respond. They are saying the economy is bad. Kibaki left me a Sh5 trillion economy, today, the person I will hand government to, and it is that person [responding to shouts of 'Baba!) Yes! Yes! will have Sh13 trillion" the head of state said.
He continued, "Then you say I have not worked? From five to 13 trillion. That’s the economy I will leave. And then they keep talking here. And today I will respond to them."
In an apparent reference to the Jubilee Party and Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance politics and competition in Mt Kenya, Uhuru said residents should elect people and not parties.
The President said he has no problem with parties seeking a share of Mt Kenya. He said some of them had suffered at Ruto's hands in the 2017 Jubilee nominations.
“I don’t have any problem with the small parties you have made," Uhuru said.
"I know the reason. There are many here who know what was done to them in 2017. How they fear a repeat of that. But now I am telling you, I will not fight them. They are all ours but let us be united.
"Even if you vie here and there, let's unite and go further and join hands with others so that we form a government and protect our issues,” Uhuru said.
He encouraged the small parties to build synergy and consolidate their support to ensure they get the region its fair share of the political bargain.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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