Ruto finally got out his manifesto after a terrible month for him when nobody was paying any attention to his daily ranting about Uhuru and Raila. The UDA leader needed to be back in the picture as his chances for the presidency crumbles right in front of his eyes. The manifesto turned out to be just boring nonsense.
So now we have the real deal. William Ruto wants to launch big investigations on Uhuru’s government and their obsession with “state capture” whatever that means.
Deputy President William Ruto has vowed to form a judicial team to investigate actions and policies of President Uhuru Kenyatta if he wins the August 9 election in what has elicited sharp reactions from Jubilee. Mr. Ruto is also gearing up to reverse a number of Mr. Kenyatta’s policies if elected, even indicating that they will not fear going after the President once he leaves office.
In the Kenya Kwanza manifesto that was launched on Thursday night, Mr. Ruto said if Kenya Kwanza wins next month, they will form an inquiry into state capture and a tribunal on enforced disappearances and violation of human rights. Both could potentially mean going after the President and how he ran the government. He also vowed to create eight tribunals, taskforces, and review panels to reverse Mr. Kenyatta’s policies.
Under the ‘Ending State Capture’ sub-topic, Mr. Ruto promises to establish, “within 30 days, a quasi-judicial public inquiry to establish the extent of cronyism and state capture in the nation and make recommendations”.
“We have known for at least four decades that our economic model is fatally flawed. The question is why we have stayed on this path, why the government did not heed its own clarion call to restructure the economy, why we would choose to manufacture guns rather than garments. The answer is the convergence of political and economic power,” the Kenya Kwanza manifesto states.
Yesterday, Dr Ruto’s allies expounded on the proposals and accused the President of using state policies to his favour, which the commission will investigate if they win power.
“State capture has strangled our economy. The problem is that the President and his allies have over the last 10 years made policies and decisions to benefit his enterprise. Just like the Guptas in South Africa, everything has been choreographed to benefit the private businesses of those in power,” says Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
According to Mr Nyoro, key sectors of the economy are currently being controlled by a few powerful families, hence the reason for the proposals of an inquiry under the Kenya Kwanza administration. “The kind of greed we have witnessed in the last seven years is unprecedented. It has dwarfed the stealing of Mau Mau land after Independence.”
Like Mr Nyoro, Mr Irungu Kang’ata, who is eyeing the Murang’a governor seat in the August election, welcomed the creation of such an inquiry, terming it necessary. “Certain families dominate key sectors. The energy sector is in the hands of a few. The extent of capture needs a study, hence the proposal. State capture retards development. It establishes negative linkages between politics and economy. This has nothing to do with Uhuru. It has everything to do with Kenyans’ wellbeing,” said the senator.
Here is the deal. The Bottoms-up idle talk has collapsed. Ruto could not put it together in any sensible way for Kenyans. So UDA has no economic manifesto for Kenyans. UDA has no agenda to fight corruption and theft of public money and resources in Kenya. That is fine. Kenyans understand Ruto and his party could never do anything like that.
So agenda-less, manifesto less and clueless on anything what does Ruto and UDA do for the next 36 days before they go into oblivion. They are going to make a lot of noise and Ruto is going to the wire. He needs help from his friends and others on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. That is what humans do.
In 2002 we removed the Moi dictatorship from power and the country told Moi he was not the problem and they were not going to take him to jail or anything like that. But they were going to beat him at the polls whether he liked it or not. In fact Kenya guaranteed Moi some pay in pensions after he was taken out of power.
The idea was to have a transition process not a revenge squad. Kenyans felt that was the best thing they needed at that time and that is what they voted for.
There is no need for Ruto to threaten President Uhuru Kenyatta as part of his desperate last minute dying hopes to win the August 9, 2022 elections. Kenyans will make that call and it will be the end of the 30 year nightmares Kenyans have dealt with from William Ruto. It is coming. Finally.
“Mtu amepewa kazi, badala ya Kufanya kazi ni mdomo, mdomo, mdomo tu.”
.
Speaking at a function in KICC on Saturday, the President, without mentioning his name, lashed out at his deputy for issuing numerous pledges yet he had the opportunity to deliver.
Uhuru said the DP had a whole 8 years to implement most of the development pledges he is issuing now but he could not.
“Nasikitika nikiona wengine huko ng’we ng’we ng’we. Mtu amepewa kazi, badala ya kazi ni mdomo, mdomo, mdomo tu. Alafu anaanza kusema tutafanya na tutafanya,” he said.
“Kwa nini haukufanya ukiwa na kazi.Hii maneno ya makelele huko, huko, watu wawache upuzi… Munya hapa amefanya kazi kwa miaka mitatu. Hao walikua miaka nane walifanya nini?”
” I am saddened to see some people talking out there. Someone has been given a job instead of doing it he is just making empty talks. Then the same person starts saying he will do this and that”.
“…mimi nasikitika nikiona wengine ng’we ng’we, mtu amekuwa huku amepewa kazi badala ya kazi ni mdomo, alafu sasa tutafanya, na tutafanya…kwa nini hukufanya wakati ulikuwa huko?” Posed President Kenyatta.
“Hii mambo ya makelele kila saa, kichwa yako ni makelele huko na huku, watu wawache upuzi. Wanafikiria ukienda huko uone mtu ako na shida…mimi nitatatua hiyo. Kwa nini hukutatua huko mbele? Mwache kuniletea bwana!”
“Why didn’t you do that when you had the opportunity. People should stop such rubbish… This issue of making too much noise here and there should stop. CS munya here has delivered a lot in the three years he has served. What have those people done for the 8 years?”
He added:
“Wakiona mtu na shida wanasema watatatua. Kwa nini hamkutatua mkiwa ofisi?”
The President went on to urge Kenyans to make wise choices ahead of the August polls reminding them their future is at stake.
Uhuru noted that he has not coerced anyone into backing a particular camp but said it is upon Kenyans to evaluate their leaders before voting for them.
“Lakini vile nimesema ni shauri yenu. Sijalazimisha mtu kitu nimesema mfikirie. Think, think, think.”
Ruto told off the President saying he has not asked him for support adding that he is ready to face Raila head-on and defeat him on August 9.
“When you needed a friend to stand with you, I stood with you. Raila never stood with you, Martha Karua never stood with you, I am not asking for you to support me, I am asking you to give me space so that I can deal with Raila,” stated Ruto.
The remarks by the DP came after Uhuru accused him of making empty promises yet he had the time to deliver what he is promising Kenyans.
Uhuru said the DP had a whole 8 years to implement most of the development pledges he is issuing now but he could not.
Uhuru said ” I am saddened to see some people talking out there. Someone has been given a job instead of doing it he is just making empty talks. Then the same person starts saying he will do this and that”.
“Why didn’t you do that when you had the opportunity. People should stop such rubbish… This issue of making too much noise here and there should stop. CS Munya here has delivered a lot in the three years he has served. What have those people done for the 8 years?”
But the President’s remarks have met criticism from the DP’s allies who said it is him who abandoned his deputy.
Led by his running mate Rigathi Gachagua, the group said the President elbowed the DP out of the government and focused on his Handshake deal with Raila.
“Mr President, You seem to have a short memory. You chased William Ruto from the government four years ago. You chose Raila as your chief adviser and CS Fred Matiang’i as the implementor of your project,” Rigathi said.
“When you chased away Ruto, you abandoned the big four agenda and you focused on the BBI. now the country has come to a standstill.”
The UDA party leader went on to ask the President to clear the way for Ruto saying he is ready to serve the people of Kenya.
William Ruto seems to have a big problem here. At one point he says he is fighting President Uhuru in the 2022 elections not Raila. Then Uhuru speaks and Ruto changes his mind and says no Mr. President, I am not fighting against you let me fight Raila. The real problem is that William Ruto is fighting against nobody else but himself. Kenyans know him and his politics for 30 years. Nobody can change that.
The last thing UDA needed at this time was a head on fight with President Uhuru. Ruto has always thought he owns the Mt. Kenya vote. Now he is telling the Kikuyu communities to vote him in power so he can take their most prominent leader today, Uhuru Kenyatta and his family, to jail. That is beyond stupid. We have to find a new word for it. Ruto will find that word on August 10, 2022 early in the morning. Good luck with that my friend. Ng’we ng’we ng’we sounds pretty good.
@WilliamsRuto will FALL hard — VERY HARD — on August 9. For the first time since 1997 (when he was 31) — a quarter century — he will have no official position within the state either in the legislature or executive. He will become RAIA again. The political wilderness awaits. Mercifully. He must hope.
Adongo Ogony is a Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada
