Deputy President William Ruto has torn into critics over utterances that he has been commissioning ghost projects during his countrywide tours.
This is following reports that the DP launched the Ksh5.3 billion Lower Nzoia irrigation and flood mitigation project on June 7 when it was not ready for commissioning.
In a tweet on Wednesday, the DP termed the reports mere propaganda saying there is progress in the project that he has been following on since 2008, when he was minister for Agriculture in retired President Mwai Kibaki’s government.
He urged leaders behind the reports to cease from politicising projects that are meant to benefit the common mwanchi.
“The launched Lower Nzoia flood mitigation & irrigation project is now 15% in progress & is meant to eliminate destructive perennial flooding and increase acreage under irrigation. I have followed it since I was the agriculture Minister in 2008. Wacheni siasa mbichi,” he wrote.
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The launched lower nzoia flood mitigation & irrigation project is now 15% in progress & is meant to eliminate destructive perennial flooding and increase acreage under irrigation. I have followed this project since 2008 as minister for agriculture. Wacheni njama na siasa mbichi
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) October 2, 2019
On Tuesday, Water and Sanitation Principal Secretary Joseph Irungu, who appeared before National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, criticized the project terming it a mere skeleton.
“I cannot confirm that the Cabinet secretary was contacted because there was nothing in writing. Had I been asked whether it was okay to launch the project, I would have said it was not proper,” said Irungu.
Irungu accused the DP of commissioning fake projects to woo voters and win their hearts ahead of 2022 top seat ambitions.
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“I would have advised that the project be kept on hold until people were compensated before going on with the launch,” he added.
On the other hand, PAC Chair Opiyo Wandayi together with his members castigated the DP saying he did not involve them in the launch of the project despite being in charge of land acquisition and budget.
Wandayi further said that the National Land Commission (NLC) together with the National Irrigation Board (NIB) were involved in the acquisition of the project hence should have been consulted before the purported launch.
“We want to know if the DP was misled to launch the project when it was not ready,” said Wandayi.
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