Politics
“I Have No Apologies Over My Uhuru-slapping Remarks” – William Ruto
William Ruto, Kenya Kwanza presidential aspirant has accepted to nearly punching his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, when Uhuru, as Ruto claims, almost gave up on the 2017 presidential re-run.
The Presidential hopeful was reacting to a leaked audio in which he was heard saying that he nearly slapped Uhuru in 2017 following the cancellation of the election by the Supreme court after a petition sued by then NASA leader Raila Odinga and civil society groups.
According to Ruto, as heard in the leaked audio recording, Uhuru nearly threw-in the towel on the presidential race and was ready to go back home in Ichaweri, Gatundu South, alerting his anger.
Ruto was addressing a group of Kikuyu elders at his Karen residence on Friday, when he admitted to slapping his boss.
However, during a rally today at Central Imenti, Meru County, William Ruto defended himself, saying he was trying to be a good and loyal friend.
The deputy president and the president have been at loggerheads, throwing shades at each other sometimes without mentioning names.
“What should I have done? Let Uhuru concede defeat yet Kenyans had woken up at 5pm to vote for him? You wanted him to give up and let Raila Odinga be sworn into the presidency? Was I wrong to force him into the presidency?” he posed.
The Deputy President further said that he had traversed the country to campaign for the president and would not allow Odinga to easily grab the presidency.
“I was Kenyatta’s biggest campaigner as I would wake up early and conduct three meetings before the president showed up. I helped him because he is my friend,” Ruto added.
The Deputy President was reacting to Azimio la Umoja’s faction after accusing him of disrespecting the president in the remarks now gone viral on social media.
“It is an embarrassment for the Deputy President to utter such remarks,” Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka said.
Deputy President William Ruto has vowed to that his government if given the mandate to lead the country in the August 9 polls will deal with hands-on with ‘State capture.’
According to the Presidential candidate, state policies are being used to facilitate the theft of public funds as corruption had been absorbed into government.
DP William Ruto made these calims while speaking to the Reuters in an interview.
“We have no intention of prosecuting President Uhuru Kenyatta, but we have every intention of dealing with State capture. It cannot be business as usual,” the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate said.
DP Ruto’s running mate, Rigathi Gachagua also alluded to said State capture, saying those involved will be dealt with should Kenya Kwanza form the next government.
“We will not go after individuals. We will go after all those in state capture and conflict of interest,” Gachagua said in a joint media broadcast.
The Mathira MP vaguely explained that it was “people in power who have used or are using their offices to use up public resources to their advantage,” when asked who or what State capture was.
The DP has also revealed plans of bringing to end the Kenya’s national debt, which currently stands at Sh9 trillion, in an exclusive interview with international media.
He said the country has the capacity to handle the debt situation, and that they as Kenya Kwanza have mapped out plans of how to go about it, should they win.
“We will put the brakes on more borrowing. It may not come to zero but we will begin the journey to slow down on more borrowing,” the DP said.
Campaigns hit fever pitch and candidates scramble for airtime to sell their agendas with just eighteen (18) days left as Kenya will soon be headed to the General Election.
Sonko has increased the intense in the race for Mombasa county which already has aspirants from the UDA and ODM parties.
Sonko has finally been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to contest for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat.
On Thursday, July 14 2022, Sonko in the accompany of his supporters was given the green light.
The former Nairobi governor was invited by the IEBC to submit his letter for clearance as per a letter addressed to him earlier.
“The venue will be the IEBC Mombasa County offices and you are expected to submit your papers on July 14, 2022 between 2pm and 4pm,” Swalha Ibrahim the returning officer said.
The letter to Sonko came after a high court ruled that the politician doesn’t be disqualified from vying for governor noting that the governor was eligible to run for office. The commission said it could not head to the courts to appeal the decision as time could not allow.
Addressing the media after the clearance, Sonko said his candidature seeks to solve the problems of the people in the Coastal city and that he was bringing a new awakening in the city.
Sonko said he was not worried about the short time time line he has to undertake the campaigns in the large city noting that he was drawing a campaign schedule to begin immediately.
“We must campaign, we have few days but we will utilize them properly. We can do two days per constituency or a day per constituency,” Sonko noted.
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