William Ruto to Raila: Keep off Judiciary

President-elect William Ruto has told the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga to stop lecturing the Judiciary on how to handle his petition.

Dr Ruto told the former Prime Minister that the Judiciary is an independent arm of government with capacity to effectively handle matters presented before it, adding he should be patient as it does its work and be ready to accept the outcome.

He was speaking at his official Karen residence yesterday when he welcomed the Movement for Democratic Growth (MDG) party members led by Ugenya MP-elect David Ochieng to Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

"We want to move our country to the next level. That is why we are asking our competitors not to lecture the Judiciary on how to perform its role since it is an independent arm of government," said Dr Ruto.

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He said Kenyans were aware that his competitors have been instrumental in destruction of electoral bodies in the past starting with the commissions led by late Samuel Kivuitu, Isaack Hassan and were now targeting the Wafula Chebukati-led team.

Raila has filed a petition against IEBC and its chairman Chebukati, challenging his declaration of Ruto as winner of the August 9 presidential poll was.

Ruto urged his competitors to be ready to abide by the ruling made by the Supreme Court since the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission had already done its work and it was now upon the highest court in the land to make a determination.

He said Kenyans were looking forward to future elections devoid of conflict and violence and that political leaders are able to visit all parts of the country to sell their agenda and seek votes.

"I would assure Kenyans that the government that we will form once we are done with the remaining process, will not leave out any part of the country with focus on building bridges and networks," said Ruto.

He said he was delighted to welcome the MDG party, adding they have been in discussion with several Nyanza leaders with a view of forming necessary partnerships.

"It was unfortunate that during the recent election campaigns we were not able to visit any of the four Nyanza counties because of matters conflict and violence. I believe after the networks we are building with MDG and other progressive leaders we will visit the region," said Ruto.

Ochieng said they were the missing jigsaw puzzle matrix in making Ruto govern the country, adding Kenya Kwanza's position on peace, justice and unity aligned with his party manifesto.

He also cited convergence on how to tackle the high cost of living, infrastructural development, improvement of agricultural sector and education reforms.