Deputy President William Ruto scaled up his onslaught on ODM leader Raila Odinga, mocking Orange Democratic Party’s decision to kick out Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa and promising to help her in the fight.
Ruto accused Raila of political deceit, promoting disunity in the country and rocking Jubilee Party, claims Raila denied at a Nairobi forum.
Both men arrived at the Coast on Friday. The Nasa leader attended a wedding ceremony on that evening and returned to Nairobi yesterday morning as Ruto held two rallies in Ganze and Kaloleni in Kilifi County.
Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori, who was spared the ODM axe at the recent party convention, skipped Ruto’s events. Also missing from Ruto’s Coast trip were MPs from Central Kenya. Buoyed by Ruto’s support, Jumwa remained defiant, urging Coast residents to stick by Ruto.
“You cannot keep saying you are in the business of uniting Kenyans yet you are expelling others from your political outfits and causing divisions in the country. Uniting Kenyans should not have any boundaries,” Ruto said.
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Order of the day
Assuring Jumwa that those who support her would stand by her as she battles her expulsion from ODM, Ruto then delivered his latest verbal attack: “How do you organise a whole meeting to bring down a woman? If you are man enough, why can’t you tackle your fellow men?”
The DP said no Kenyan needed permission from certain leaders to work with the government of the day. He said what Jumwa was being accused of has been the order of the day for many politicians, including Raila.
Jumwa’s expulsion has reignited political fires in Coast, with Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi also joining the fray in accusing Raila.
“He told me that though the matter had been handed over to NEC it would not go beyond that. He said he wanted a decent closure of the matter,” Kingi told an International Women’s Day event at Ganze trading centre.
Kingi said despite Raila’s assurance that the matter would not go beyond the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) the matter was forwarded to the National Delegates Conference (NDC).
“Jumwa did as I had instructed her but after one week, NEC issued its verdict that she was to be kicked out of the party and they forwarded the report to the National Delegates Council where I am also a member,” he said.
The governor said should the matter result in a by-election, he would not support the ODM candidate picked to replace Jumwa.
“People have declared in public their support for Deputy President just like Ms Jumwa did. To date, they have not appeared before the disciplinary committee, I want to appeal to my party that in the spirit of fairness we want to see many heads roll,” Kingi said.
At his events yesterday, DP Ruto acknowledged that wastage, mismanagement of resources and corruption remained the major threats facing the transformation of the country.
“We must therefore take on these vices. However, this needs to be done using facts, truth, honesty and without propaganda. That is how we will win this war,” he said.
He maintained his political witch-hunt narrative in the graft purge: “No matter how many times you repeat a lie, it will never amount to truth. So, as we prosecute the war against corruption, let it not be predetermined for political reasons targeting certain people and projects.”
Leaders present included MPs Stanley Muthama (Lamu West), Mohamed Ali (Nyali), Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga), Ben Tayari (Kinango), Danson Mwashako (Wundanyi), Badi Twalib (Jomvu), Paul Katana (Kaloleni) and Kassim Tandaza (Matuga). Others were Gertrude Mbeyu (Kilifi Woman Rep) and senators Anwar Loitiptip (Lamu) and Christine Zawadi (nominated).
