You were conned: Raila tells Githurai youth

ODM leader Raila Odinga addressing Githurai residents [Fidelis Kabunyi, Standard]

ODM leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday drummed up support for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) in Githurai, telling the youth not to be swayed by ‘wheelbarrow politics.’

Speaking during a roadside rally, Odinga told the youth that most of the promises made by the Jubilee government are yet to be fulfilled eight years later.

The former Prime Minister highlighted the laptop project, jobs and building of stadia as some of the areas the government had failed to deliver despite basing its manifesto on development.

Raila buys cabbage from a roadside seller [Fidelis Kabunyi, Standard]

Pointing an accusing finger at Deputy President William Ruto, the ODM leader asked the youth not to be fooled for a second time by buying the wheelbarrow narrative.

“They promised you 1million jobs. By now you should have 8million jobs…have you seen them?

“Some of our children are about to sit for KCPE exams but they are yet to see the laptops they were promised,” he said.

Adding: “Most of you are learned but now you are being promised wheelbarrows…Is that the kind of change you want?”

Odinga stated that the BBI would benefit the youth in many ways by bringing about positive and transformative change.

"BBI is not about me, it’s for a better Kenya which entails bringing stability and a peaceful working environment for any Kenyan without tribe or ethnicity," the ODM leader said. 

Earlier, a mob tried to disrupt the function but leaders who accompanied Raila during the tour maintained that Kenyans should not be divided along tribal lines.

“Kenya belongs to all of us and we have a right to hold a rally here,” said Embakasi East MP Babu Owino.

Sentiments that were echoed by Siaya Senator James Orengo and Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang.

In recent weeks, Odinga has hit out at DP Ruto for misleading the youth through what he termed as misleading promises and the DP responded by saying he (Raila), cannot run away from the failures of the Jubilee government.

Speaking at his Karen home last week, Ruto said ODM is to blame for causing the government to deviate from its Big Four Agenda plan.

Deputy President William Ruto [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

“You came and changed the Government’s priorities from the Big Four Agenda to alternative ones like the Building Bridges Initiative. Now, after you have failed miserably, you want to run away,” he said.

Adding: “You must bear the consequences for the derailment of Jubilee’s development agenda. You cannot point fingers at others.”