Planned town hall meetings by UDA presidential candidate William Ruto, which were supposed to kick off this week have been postponed until further notice.
This follows revelations the Hustler Nation camp has run out of resources to keep up with the ’empowerment’ tempo, which has seen the Deputy President dish out millions of shillings to churches, women, and youth groups.
An insider confided to this writer that Ruto is now banking on foreign donors and private businessmen to fund the meetings which were meant to popularise the United Democratic Alliance.
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Also, aspirants who have declared their interest in various country seats across the country, and have financial wherewithal to organise the forums in their respective counties have been asked to do so, then invite DP Ruto to attend.
A town hall meeting is an event at which a politician or public official answers questions from members of the public, especially on their agenda and plan for the electorate.
With the countrywide engagements put back, William Ruto is resorting to the church to mobilise faithfuls behind his 2022 bid, as seen this past Sunday in Nairobi.
”The church have replaced the town halls. Morally wrong but unfortunately, our politics is not about morality. Nice people sell ice cream. They are not politicians,” the source said, without giving any further details.
Last week, the government deported Harun Aydin, a Turkish associate the DP, saying he was involved in money laundering, for purposes of financing the Ruto’s activities.
Interior CS Fred Matiangi told the National Assembly Committee on Administration and National Security was detained on arrival from Uganda because he twice entered the country under unclear circumstances and is believed he was sneaked in by a VVIP on a private plane.
Read: CS Matiang’i: Government has not apologised to Turkey over Aydin’s deportation
“His passport shows he has left the country twice without a stamp of arrival; it means you either used the porous borders or took advantage of VIP entry,” Matiangi said, adding that his travel history in the region was also suspect.
“The way he had been traveling to and from various countries in the region clearly match the characteristics of a money-laundering suspect and you know money laundering and terrorism are joined at the hip,” he said.
Aydin was arrested on Saturday and sent back to his country two days later, just days after drama ensued at the Wilson Airport, where DP Ruto was blocked as he prepared to travel with the Turkish to Uganda.
