Deputy President William Ruto has intensified attacks on the Jubilee administration in his 10-day tour of the United States.
In the latest jabs aimed at President Uhuru Kenyatta, the country’s second in command criticized the handshake between the Head of State and opposition leader Raila Odinga saying the March 2018 political truce had taken away the oversight role of the opposition and brought confusion government.
He blamed the handshake for ‘derailing’ the Jubilee administration’s development agenda.
Without mincing his words, Ruto described Odinga as a puppet of government and President Kenyatta as a refugee in the opposition.
“Because of that conundrum where government decided to work with the opposition and the opposition decided to be part of government committees that are supposed to be chaired by the government are chaired by the opposition what happened is that we lost the opposition, we lost the governing party, we lost the government agenda and we all ended up as losers because we lost almost four years chasing a mirage that didn’t work,” said Ruto.
Also Read: ODM Downplays DP Ruto’s Claims of Election Rigging in August 9 Polls
“…the supposed opposition leader has become a puppet of government and the leader of the ruling party is now a refugee in the opposition and it’s quite a situation.”
He spoke at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonpartisan international affairs think tank with centres in Washington D.C.
On the war against graft, Ruto told Americans that the war on graft had been weaponised back at home to target political opponents.
He claimed Kenya could have lost nearly half a trillion shillings in the last ten years to ‘budgeted corruption’ run by opaque institutions.
Also Read: Mixed Reactions as DP Ruto Asks US Leaders to Stop Rigging Attempts Ahead of August Polls
“The other issue is budgeted corruption. Today you have close to Ksh100 billion budgeted every year that has no oversight in opaque institutions,” Ruto said.
“That amount has grown between four and fivefold in the last ten years.”
The DP further claimed that democracy is on trial in Kenya. He said Odinga is a state project in the next election.
Ruto spoke a day after he sparked a storm after alleging plans to rig the August presidential polls. He is expected to face Odinga who is President Kenyatta’s preferred candidate in the polls.
Also Read: Azimio Raids Ruto’s UDA Again As Organizing Secretary Defects To DAP-K Party
The DP’s comments have sparked a debate on social media with a section of Kenyans accusing him of disrespecting and sabotaging the President. Some agreed with the United Democratic Alliance party (UDA) leader.
Here are some of the reactions:
https://twitter.com/Mukolwe254/status/1499415251888050183?s=20&t=Qbom8X6NJg9xkGOA6vPnUw
So, Ruto has gone a notch higher in his attacks in US, and just called Uhuru a refugee in government, and Mt. Kenya is silent……. Heshima ilienda wapi jameni?
— Festo Fessy Kimanthi 🇰🇪 (@festo_fessy) March 3, 2022
William Ruto, the Deputy President of Kenya has called His excellency The President and Commander of our Kenya Defense Forces Uhuru Kenyatta, a REFUGEE in the opposition???
And he has said this to STRANGERS thousands of miles away from home.
Who has bewitched this man surely?
— Moja Benjamin (@mojabenjamin) March 3, 2022
Somebody has called the head of state, commander in chief, leader of the ruling party and president, Uhuru Kenyatta, a REFUGEE in government!! This is uncalled for…
— Festo Fessy Kimanthi 🇰🇪 (@festo_fessy) March 3, 2022
Ruto said Uhuru is a refugee in opposition and Raila is a government puppet 😭😭😭That man is an hypocrite bana. Anaongea as if he has been never in government ndio first time yake anataka kuingia serikali kuokoa Kenya 😂😂😂 That guy is worse than a conman.
— Babu Mmoja. 🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪 (@Babuj_) March 3, 2022
"Raila is a government puppet" and "Uhuru is a refugee in opposition". These two statements are contradictory.
According to Ruto, Uhuru (the government) is controlling Raila (the puppet). How is it possible that the same Uhuru is a refugee in a setup that he has full control of?
— Erick Aluru (@EAluru) March 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/PeterRatemo4/status/1499262077113937921?s=20&t=Qbom8X6NJg9xkGOA6vPnUw
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