Deputy President William Ruto has said the Jubilee regime has been a failure in its second term.
In his coastal tour over the weekend, he said the economic takeoff envisioned after the implementation of mega infrastructure projects in the party’s first five years has not been realised.
In what has been interpreted as an attempt to distance himself from unfulfilled government promises, Ruto said Jubilee’s plans had been scuttled by the focus on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
“We must also say the truth. Our plan to create millions of jobs in the second term after laying the ground in the first term was put aside and the priority become the BBI,” he said.
The DP further claimed the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project has been hijacked by profiteers.
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“SGR and the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects were to be implemented simultaneously to cushion the Coast against adverse economic effects of the new railway system. Those who were to lose jobs because of the implementation of the SGR were supposed to get new ones at the SEZ. Even the SGR project has been hijacked by cartels,” he said.
Former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar also criticised the BBI referendum push, saying it failed to address to capture the concerns of Coast residents.
“The 2010 Constitution needed to be implemented fully, not to be amended. Article 203 of the BBI will see Coast counties lose money as it talks of a one-man-one shilling formula,” said Omar who announced that he will vie for the second and last time for the Mombasa governor post in 2022, as well as support the hustler movement led by Ruto.
Nyali MP Mohamed Ali said the Coast would table its demands in talks with the DP, key among them a guarantee that the region will get the finance, transport and security Cabinet slots.
“It cannot be that Coast only gets the Ministry of Tourism. We actually do not want that docket. We have people who can serve in senior or powerful ministries,” said Ali.
He said their plan to come up with a Coast party was scuttled by people in the region, adding they have now decided to go another route.
On Saturday, Ruto told Coast leaders to join UDA (United Democratic Alliance). The DP termed as absurd those claiming that he was inciting a class war in the country, and said he was fighting for the masses excluded from the country’s economic growth.
“In the second term, our plan was economic expansion across the country through the Big Four Agenda but it was unfortunately substituted with the BBI,” said Ruto.
He added that the Coast region was worst hit by Jubilee’s failure to see through its economic agenda because of the adverse economic effects of the SGR project.
The DP, who toured several projects in Kwale and Mombasa, said if he becomes president, his priority will be to implement the Big Four Agenda.
“Our plan was that in the second term, we expand the economy of the masses,” he said.
