Speak to your neighbour Uhuru on my behalf, Ruto tells Gatundu South residents

DP William Ruto addressing residents of Kiamwangi in Gatundu South, Kiambu County on Friday, March 18, 2022. [Fidelis Kabunyi, Standard]

Deputy President William Ruto on Friday, March 18 asked Mutomo Village residents in Gatundu South, Kiambu County to implore upon President Uhuru Kenyatta to quietly proceed on retirement.

The deputy president was drumming up support for his presidential bid in Kenyatta’s backyard.

“I am urging you to speak with your friend and neighbour President Kenyatta to stay away from the presidential campaigns,” he said.

“Kindly ask him not to cut off my legs with the same knife that I used in protecting him in the previous two general elections. Ask him not to extend support to that man full of riddle talk (Raila Odinga,” said Dr Ruto.

The deputy president said President Kenyatta had betrayed him despite his (Ruto’s) efforts to hoist him to presidency.

“Remind him that he and I knelt down to be prayed for by the clergy and his mum, Mama Ngina Kenyatta. Even if he doesn’t want to help me in my quest to become president, kindly ask him to stay out of the presidential campaigns so that I can defeat Raila Odinga.”

Ruto also faulted the government over how it handled the planned relocation of at least 2,500 residents of Mutomo Village, whose land is set for acquisition by the State.

The government wants to expand Mama Ngina University College, which is headquartered in the area.

“In however much the establishment of a university is meant to spark development, the rights of the local people must be respected,” said Ruto.

“The relocation must be carried out in a manner that doesn’t deprive Mutomo Village residents of their right to own ancestral land,” said Ruto.

Concerns on the mode of compensation elicited reactions from the local community.

On February 22, 2022, the Environment and Land Court in Thika ruled that petitioners seeking to stop the expansion of the college bypassed alternative dispute resolution avenues by rushing to court.

A section of Mutomo residents had sued the National Government for not conducting public participation before selecting their plots for acquisition.

Some 2,500 families had protested the planned acquisition of 100 acres for the expansion of the college, with some saying they’d lose at least 100 graves, where their loved ones had been buried.

The Land court directed that the matter be referred to the National Land Commission (NLC) to give a verdict on how the families will be relocated and compensated.

Mama Ngina University College is a constituent college of Kenyatta University.

Constructed adjacent to Mutomo Primary school since 2016, the college has been admitting students, though they have been studying at the Kenyatta University satellite campuses.

Ruto is in Kiambu alongside Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi, his Ford-Kenya counterpart Moses Wetang’ula, MPs Moses Kuria (Gatundu South), Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu), Alice Wahome (Kandara), among others.