Ruto on government: I will resign when I want

DP William Ruto (centre) during the 'Hustler Nation' media brief in Karen, Nairobi. August 5, 2021. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Pushed to the periphery of a government he co-run with his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto yesterday put up a brave face, and declared that he will formally quit government at a time of his own choosing.

At a political event staged at his official residence, the DP led 100 plus lawmakers in admonishing Jubilee government failures of the last four years, blaming it all on former NASA coalition partners and their “collaborators” in Jubilee.

Donning all shades of yellow, the presumed colour code of his new political vehicle- United Democratic Alliance (UDA)- the DP camp formally announced that they have found a new home, but they won't just quit. They danced to their own songs, flew UDA flags over the official residence, and announced that Jubilee, their former home, had collapsed. 

“We are not guests in any place. We join parties by choice and leave by choice. Nobody should ask why we are still here,” said Ruto when asked why he was still in a government that he believes has failed to deliver on its pre-election pledges. 

The team claimed that Uhuru’s camp in collaboration with NASA principals took the Jubilee administration hostage and hijacked its agenda, leading to its present failures. In a hard-hitting statement issued after the meeting, the group accused government criminalizing small businesses in Nyamakima, Gikomba, Kamukunji and Kirinyaga Road, rendering several traders hapless with no source of income.

Ruto and his allies further accused Jubilee administration of presiding over brutal and inhuman evictions of the vulnerable in slums. They claimed that the Government rendered scores homeless by destroying their private property in places like Kariobangi, Ruai among other places. The second-in-command and his allies also accused Uhuru and his administration of running down the economy.

He said the country was struggling under “stockpiling of public debt to unprecedented levels occasioning the current crisis.”

Further, they claimed that the March 9, 2018 rapprochement between Uhuru and Raila saw job creation and Universal Health Coverage, Food Security and Manufacturing scuttled at the altar of amending the constitution through the Building Bridges (BBI).

“For the past four years, we have consistently and repeatedly raised concerns and objections to Jubilee’s abandoning of its agenda and solemn commitments upon which it was re-elected in 2017. Regrettably, the NASA coalition, its principals and their Jubilee collaborators took the Government hostage, hijacked its agenda,” they said.

The camp said that since the famous handshake, the country has been engaged in the BBI process, characterised by hubris, chest-thumping, blackmail, intimidation and bribery.

The DP camp formally announced that they have found a new home, but they won't just quit. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The team said that the handshake left a trail of destruction in parliament where those who were perceived to be disagreeable to this scheme became victims of a vicious purge and expulsion.

“Besides, the Criminal Justice system, Kenya Revenue Authority and other State agencies were mobilised and weaponised to intimidate, blackmail, victimise and persecute leaders, business people and ordinary Kenyans perceived to be opposed to this unconstitutional order, BBI and its anti-people recommendations,” stated the statement.

“This provided a leeway for the attempted vandalism of the Constitution of our country. Fortunately, the Judiciary made a very profound decision affirming the supremacy of the people, the Constitution and independent institutions,” it added.

They declared the Jubilee party dead, opposition NASA disintegrated while describing UDA as the new home for the hustler nation. The camp said that the only solution to the grim state of the economy was the bottom-up economic model. They said that the current trickle-down model has failed to ensure uniform economic growth in the country.

In the statement, the leaders said that the hustler nation believes in a new economic and political paradigm that prioritises bottom-up over trickle-down economics, the people over their leader and empowerment over power-sharing. Ruto said that their competitors were more obsessed with positions for leaders over jobs for the millions of jobless Kenyans.

“Today we are not having a discussion about amending the constitution. We are no longer discussing how to create positions, but how to create jobs. The discussion is what is in it for ordinary Kenyans. We are very proud,” said Ruto.

“While in the past we were discussing the position of the prime minister and deputies, right now the boda boda and mama mboga has taken centre stage. We welcome our competitors to engage us on this conversation about the people,” added the DP.

The DP camp formally announced that they have found a new home, but they won't just quit. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

UDA said that through the new model, it was possible to have over 15 million Kenyans at the bottom of the pyramid to be active and meaningful participants in the economy. This the party said can be achieved through financing instruments and mechanisms to spur, promote and empower hustler enterprises such as mama mboga, hawkers, boda bodas, artisans, and artists.

They further suggested facilitation and enhancement of productivity of farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk and other actors within the agricultural value chain as well as implementation of a manufacturing and industrial programme that prioritises cottage industries as a multiplier of national productivity. 

But in a quick rejoinder last evening, ODM questioned Ruto why he did not push for the bottom-up model during Jubilee’s first term in office when he had significant influence in the running of the Government.

In a statement by its Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna, the Raila-led party labelled Ruto as the source of all the failures and problems in the ruling party.

They accused Ruto of always trying to blame Raila for all his political woes instead of mustering courage to face his boss, President Uhuru, instead of engaging in shadow boxing.

“The President extended tanga tanga and their leader a lot of leeway in Jubilee’s first term, which they could very well have used to implement this so-called bottom-up approach but which they instead saw as an opportunity to loot, grab, and basically run the country into the ground,” said Sifuna.