Make public what you pay KRA from poultry farm, Tuju tells DP

Jubilee party officials led by Secretary-General Raphael Tuju addressing the media on Deputy President William Ruto's frequent attack on Government at Jubilee headquarters in Nairobi. [Boniface Okendo,Standard]

Jubilee Party has challenged Deputy President William Ruto to publicly declare the tax he pays to Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) following revelation that he earns Sh1.5 million per day from poultry farming.

In an explosive statement read by Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju, at Jubilee Headquarters in Pangani, Nairobi, yesterday, he asked Dr Ruto to not only declare what he earns, but also what he pays to the taxman.

"We would like to thank the DP and congratulate him for telling us about his chicken farm that makes for him some Sh1.5 million every day. But with an income of Sh1.5 million a day our DP is ok. The only thing left in his wonderful act of transparency is for him to show us the figures with respect to his very big payment to Kenya Revenue Authority," said Tuju.

The scathing attack on the DP comes after last week's revelation by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i on the number of security officers deployed to guard the DP and his properties. After  Matiang'i's submissions to Parliament, Ruto admitted that he owned 70 per cent of the property listed by the CS adding that he also rears 200,000 chicken which give him Sh1.5 million every day from sell of 150,000 eggs.

The DP also revealed that he has 400,000 shares at Safaricom and another 80,000 at Kenya Airways. The Jubilee Secretary-General noted that by his own account, Ruto told Kenyans that he was worth Sh100 million in 2015.

Tuju wondered how in seven years Ruto had “worked very hard” and now has assets like choppers, hotels and land worth millions of shillings. He sarcastically congratulated Ruto for making such amazing strides in business, while studying for his PhD, running a multi-billion shilling empire, being a Deputy President, involvement in presidential campaigns and still spare time on Sunday to do harambees.

"From our records. He has been more generous than Safaricom... Maybe he expects us to lie prostrate in awe at great deputy leader in admiration for such prowess, the chosen one," jibed Tuju.

DP William Ruto.[Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

The Jubilee Secretary General noted that while the exact acreage of what the DP is said to own may still be debatable, he has accepted the ownership of at least 3,600 acres when most of the hustlers are only hoping or dreaming to own 0.2 acres.

"May it please Ruto, to show the young people all the skills on how to acquire such property in such a short time, he should also teach us the clueless adults. We may not possess his supernatural powers of hard work. But teach us apart from the wheelbarrows," he taunted.

He added: "A great leader should lead from the front. We request that as a person who is also a good Bible quoting born-again Christian he will shame the devil and publicly give all Kenyans this information. Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what belongs to Him. ~Mark 12:17."

On the controversial Sh63b Arror and Kimwarer dams, Tuju said the DP told Kenyans that only Sh7b disappeared noting that this situation obtained when Ruto had gone to Rome Italy on private business and his daughter was the deputy ambassador in Rome at that time.

"Since he has got some private businesses networks in Italy that he had gone to meet, would he be so kind to this nation of poor people as to use his vast business networks to recover this money. It is a lot of money even with the DPs chicken firm income of 1.5 million net a day, it will take some 13 years before that chicken farm produces Sh7 billion," said Tuju.

He opened the lid on the political past noting that the DP took office in 2013 and demanded to pick half the Cabinet and that is when the rain started beating us.

"His proposals were too biased ethnically and it left the President with no options but to work with the remaining half to accommodate the rest of Kenya," Tuju said 

"These unfortunate demands of the DP would extend to other senior political appointments in government for the whole of 2013 to 2017 circle, during the 2013 to 2017 cycle this blackmail was subtle, and in private." he added.

Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The Jubilee SG accused the DP of allegedly using the opportunity to populate the appointments ethnically thus excluding other communities that did not vote for Jubilee, and were still Kenyans who had a right to services and opportunity to work and do business with government.

Tuju noted that in the first term of Jubilee, Ruto possessed some “political blackmail stock options” that he used to his personal advantage. 

"Kenyans have heard ad nauseum about this political blackmail stock options. “Oh, we have the numbers in Parliament” It is not about numbers. This is political speak to say I can pull out the support of my tribe if I do not get this for myself," he said,

Tuju said the President has been very tolerant, and has accommodated the DP's past behaviour and demands as a statesman whose mission is to make Kenya viable by uniting the country.