Deputy President William Ruto will be posturing himself as God’s candidate in the coming days as the race to State House hots up.
In latest campaign strategy similar to that of former US President Donald Trump, DP Ruto is out to paint himself as a God-fearing Christian who will lead the nation according to ‘God’s will, as opposed to his main rival Raila Odinga, a non-believer who has been fighting church donations and harambees to build places of worship.
”Mahali mimi na yeye tulikosana na yeye tulikosana ilikua mambo ya kanisa. Ukiona mtu anuliza mmetoa wapi pesa ya kujenga kanisa, analalamika mbona mnatoa sadaka, je huyo ni mtu anaamini Mungu?” the DP asked in Makueni county while addressing residents of Kanthonzweni on Saturday.
Azimio Movement Raila Odinga continues to come under sharp criticism from William Ruto and his allies in UDA over his stand on church donations and persistent questioning of the source of the millions DP Ruto dishes out every weekend.
Read:War on Poverty, Corruption: Odinga’s top agenda as President
In August 2019, Ruto accused Raila Odinga of being behind a proposal to limit church donations, claiming Odinga was the mastermind behind a Bill sponsored by Minority leader John Mbadi which sought to limit harambee donations at Sh100,000.
The Bill proposed amendments to the Public Officer Ethics Act to require those giving more than Sh100,000 to declare to the anti-graft agency the source of the funds.
Odinga has accused religious institutions of being used by corrupt politicians to launder stolen public funds.
“It is unfortunate that many public servants instead of service delivery, they focus on enriching themselves. Within a short period after their appointments, they are bragging of mass wealth and move around dishing money every day. I want to appeal to our church leaders and Imams that should not be used as laundry to sanitise proceeds of corruption…we must all unite to condemn corruption,” the Azimio Movement leader has said in the past.
Two weeks ago at a rally in Eldoret, while launching his presidential campaigns, DP Ruto cautioned the former prime minister against discussing his church and harambee donations.
“Nimesikia yule ambaye ninashindana na yeye analalamika sana ati Ruto ametoa milioni mbili kwa vijana wa bodaboda, mara ametoa milioni mbili asaidie mama mboga. Ni kweli, I have supported close to 300 different groups in Kenya, and I am very proud of it,” the DP said.
