ODM plans to abandon the Handshake, Ruto claims

Deputy President William Ruto at Kipkelion East, Kericho County, on January 17, 2021. [DPPS, Standard]

Deputy President William Ruto claims ODM leader Raila Odinga is scheming to wreck the little of what is left of Jubilee Party.

Ruto told Raila and ODM to stay in their lane, be done with the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and leave the Jubilee government to concentrate on development agenda.

"The president invited the opposition to the government and they are now too proud and think they can even lecture the president and question the government over the laptops project and other governance issues," he said.

The DP was speaking in Londiani, Kericho County, during the opening of Londiani African Inland Church (AIC) yesterday.

"If ODM leaders now want to leave the government. They should do it in peace. They should not make noise. We know they have a scheme to abandon the Handshake pact, beginning with creating chaos in Jubilee," he said.

It's hypocritical

He said it was hypocritical of Raila's allies to start criticising the government, yet they joined it at a time when some of the projects had already stalled.

"It is hypocritical of ODM to begin criticising the Jubilee government since some of the issues they are raising now were there even before the signing of the Handshake pact. They should stop acting as though they woke up just the other day," said Ruto.

The DP told Raila off for questioning his achievements in Jubilee and contribution to development.

"The Jubilee government has more achievements than any administration since independence. We have built the Standard Gauge Railway. We have tarmacked over 7,000km of roads. We have also constructed 170 technical training colleges and connected over five million Kenyans to the national power grid," he said.

He said despite the "humiliation" he was undergoing, Kenyans were wiser and would elect a development conscious candidate as president in the 2022 General Election.

"They will put us on the weighing scale. They know the candidates with vision and a development tract record," said Ruto.

Deputy President William Ruto in Bomet Central constituency in Silibwet Stadium. [DPPS]

Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot told off Raila over his calls for the DP's arrest over corruption allegations.

"The first person who should be arrested is the ODM leader over his links with the fictitious Kemsa tender," said Cheruiyot.

Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen blamed President Uhuru Kenyatta for failing to heed warnings against embracing ODM through the Handshake.

"It's unfortunate that the president allowed the opposition to come into government and run the show. Today, we want to tell Raila that he cannot be in government and the opposition at the same time. He has to choose one side," he said.

Murkomen argued that the opposition cannot blame Ruto for failures in the government since they also shoulder blame for the failures after the Handshake.

"Siaya Senator James Orengo, who is the Minority Whip, was the one who was pushing for the government to go for foreign debt. But he was the one making a lot of noise yesterday over foreign debts," he said.

The DP's allies also told off President Kenyatta over his remarks that the presidency should go to another community other than the Kikuyu and Kalenjin.

"We are not going to accept to be shepherded by anyone. As a leader from Mt Kenya region, we reject the politics of ethnicity and personality cult. When we say we support Ruto, we don't support him because he is a Kalenjin but because he is a leader who has demonstrated he has the capacity, capability, vision and focus to lead the country out of the problems currently bedeviling it," said Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri.