Faith Nyasuguta
Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto has blasted his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta over his public decision to support ex-Prime Minister Raila Odinga in his presidential bid.
The deputy swiped at Kenyatta over his economic policies claiming that Kenya was heading in the wrong direction and that he will fix the mess within 30 days of being elected into office.
Ruto was referring to Kenya’s current public debt which has shot up by $61.32 billion from nearly 17 billion dollars since Kenyatta assumed office in 2013.
In an all-out attack on Uhuru, Ruto claimed the President has run down the economy with a few monopolies controlling it at the expense of millions of Kenyans wallowing in poverty.
“Our competitors are the agents of monopolies. They are the masters of conflict of interest. They are the agents of state capture and we must free this country,” the DP said.
“Our competitors are telling us it is okay to have debt. But we must not be slaves of debt. Debt must be the last resort.”.
Adding, “We must grow our agriculture, grow tax revenues. Our tax revenues have stagnated because of conflict of interest.
“It is tragic that the only thing the handshake has done is to borrow Sh7 trillion ($ 61.2 billion) in four years.”
Further, Ruto accused Kenyatta of failing to honor his 2017 election vows and using state institutions to persecute political opponents.
The current deputy president was declared the presidential candidate to his new outfit, the United Democratic Alliance party on Tuesday during a national delegation that brought together over 5,000 delegates across the country.
Ruto started falling out with president Kenyatta in 2018, when former Prime Minister Raila Odinga made a peace truce popularly known as the handshake with Kenyatta.
The handshake triggered speculation that the duo had made a pact that would see Odinga succeed Kenyatta, a two-term president who cannot run a third time according to the constitution.
The two leaders also sought to expand the executive through proposed constitutional changes that would have potentially allowed Kenyatta to stay in power as a prime minister.
RELATED:
Recent Comments