Home Tags Posts tagged with "William Ruto"
Tag:

William Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto is planning to tour Kisumu and Migori counties just days after his Kisii tour.

The second in command has been traversing regions perceived to be ODM leader Raila Odinga’s strongholds, with an intention of popularising himself ahead of 2022 succession politics.

The Kisumu tour is tentatively scheduled for next week and preparations for the rally began in earnest Monday. Ruto on Monday received a delegation of select people from Siaya, Kibra and Kisumu at his Karen home in Nairobi.

The delegation was led by Eliud Owalo who announced his decision to join the Ruto 2022 presidential camp. Owallo ditched Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC last month.

Raila has enjoyed near fanatical support in Nyanza over the years and it will remain to be seen if Ruto can make any significant forays into the region.

While in Kisumu, Ruto plans to grace church functions and to dish out goodies to the youth and women.

In Migori, he plans to visit areas where he has enjoyed some support and also show support for embattled Governor Okoth Obado who is facing various charges ranging from murder to corruption.

ODM has asked its 42 MCAs to impeach Obado after he was charged with graft and barred from office.

Both Ruto and Raila are seen as the front-runners in the race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In what is shaping up to be a game of numbers, the DP has focused his attention strategically at four regions that have traditionally voted for Raila.

Coast, Nyanza, Nairobi, and Western are on Ruto’s radar while on the other hand he is attempting to make inroads in Mt Kenya.

The DP was last in Luo Nyanza in December 2018 when he shared a podium with the former Prime Minister in Kisumu county in a function that was officiated by Uhuru . Will he manage to win the hearts of the Luo Nyanza voters with his hustler nation narrative?

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Former Raila Odinga’s political strategist Eliud Owalo has joined Deputy President William Ruto’s political camp, weeks after ditching Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC).

Former Kakamega senator Boni Khalwale on Monday September 14, 2020 took to his official twitter account to reveal that DP Ruto had received Owalo into his camp at his Karen home in Nairobi.

Khalwale further revealed that former Machakos senator Johnson Muthama and Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua were also in attendance at the event.

“Today the Hustlers’ Clerk, @WilliamsRuto, at his Karen residence, received @EliudOwalo into the Hustlers Movement. @nduyamuthama and Hon Gachagua and I also attended,” Khalwale tweeted.

Owalo ditched Raila’s ODM party last year, just a few months to Kibra parliamentary by-elections.

He then joined Mudavadi’s ANC side where he got a ticket to vie for the Kibra parliamentary seat. Mudavadi traversed the constituency with him in search of votes, but he did not make it after ODM’s Bernard Imran Okoth emerged victorious.

About a month ago, Owalo ditched ANC.

In a letter copied to the Registrar of Political Parties, Owalo said that his exit was necessitated by the need to create ample space within the party.

He stated that the move will allow the party “strategically position itself effectively in the operational environment and craft a suitable road map moving forward without feeling suffocated by my views and suggestions.”

Thanking the party stakeholders with special mention to Mudavadi, Owalo who runs a management consultant firm, wished the party well.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s kieleweke wing of the ruling Jubilee party is just not yet done with Deputy President William Ruto!

With 2022 succession politics hotting up, President Kenyatta’s allies who are crafting his succession want to sideline DP Ruto more, to push him further away from the succession matrix.

According to a report by a local daily, the plan being mooted by the President’s close confidants will create four deputy party leader positions to dilute the DP’s influence and box him out of the Jubilee succession matrix.

Under the proposed line-up, the report details that the deputy party leaders will be bosses of particular regions only.

In a telling move, the party is said to be plotting to have another party leader from South Rift, meaning Ruto will only remain in charge of North Rift.

However, the names of those being considered for the three slots remain under the wraps.

To roll out the strategy, Uhuru’s allies plan to sponsor amendments to Article 9 (2) of the Jubilee constitution to provide for four deputy party leaders.

They are first relying on Article 4(2) of the party constitution which empowers the National Executive Committee to reorganise the membership of the entity.

“The National Executive Committee shall have the power to create or establish such categories of membership for the advancement of the interests and objectives of the party as circumstances may warrant,” the article reads.

Once the positions are created, they will then be operationalised awaiting ratification by the National Delegates Conference that will nominate the 2022 presidential flag-bearer.

With four centres of power in the party, Uhuru’s allies believe that Ruto would be annihilated and his dream for the Jubilee ticket dashed.

Ruto’s quest for the party ticket in 2022 could be dimmed through the machinations focusing on bringing on board regional bigwigs to take him on at the primaries.

This is part of the plan B the President’s handlers are looking at in case the DP chooses to hang onto the wobbly outfit to bulldoze his nomination as the 2022 presidential flag-bearer.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

President Uhuru Kenyatta is currently chairing a full cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi.

The head of state  chaired the first Cabinet meeting this year in January.

During the first meeting, the cabinet approved the establishment of a Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Centre (C-IED Centre) at Embakasi Garrison in Nairobi.

In March, Prrsident Kenyatta chaired another cabinet meeting with his Deputy William Samoei Ruto in attendance.

However, the State House later deleted the photos taken during the Cabinet meeting and uploaded to State House’s social media platforms.

Ruto was seated on the right-hand side at the meeting that was chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The today’s meeting comes at the time DP Ruto had planned to travel to Kisii for a political event.

With State House insisting that the meeting was a full cabinet meeting, DP Ruto might have been forced to cancel his trip to Kisii to attend the meeting.

Earlier this morning, there were running battles in Kisii Town as residents protested presence of crowds mobilized from Bomet to welcome DP Ruto to Kisii town.

Police had a rough time keeping two warring groups apart. Local MP Silyvanus Osoro accused Kisii Governor James Ongwae for emptying truckloads of sewage at Gusii Stadium which woke up to a flooded and stinking grounds after unknown people poured waste on the grounds where DP Ruto was scheduled to hold an event.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Deputy President William Ruto wants Jubilee party Secretary General Raphael Tuju and Vice chairman David Murathe out of the ruling party’s leadership positions.

Appearing in an interview with Weru TV on Sunday September 6, 2020, Ruto said  that God would remove Tuju and Murathe from the party’s leadership if people don’t do so.

He said: “Ikishindikana sana tutaomba mungu awaondoe [If we are defeated, we’ll pray so that God removes them]…because they are the biggest threats to us having politics based on ideology, on policy on program rather than having politics that is retrogressive.”

He proceeded: “If there is one thing that Uhuru Kenyatta and I should leave behind is a united strong national party in the name of Jubilee.”

He rubbished claims that he was sidelined in the running of government even after his allies had raised an alarm.

He was asked: “Do you attend cabinet meetings?” he shot back at his host asking him: “How does that concern you? Have you heard that I missed any Cabinet meeting? I attend all the Cabinet meetings as the Deputy President.”

He also didn’t give a decisive answer on whether he supports the Building Bridges Initiative to amend the constitution and introduce a third tier layer of governance.

“Wewe unajua mahali gani ya katiba inabadilishwa? Hiyo ripoti ya BBI wewe umesoma? Hiyo ni maoni yake mimi sijui [Do you know which section of the Constitution is being amended? Have you read that BBI report? That’s his opinion],” he responded.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Deputy President William Ruto seems to have owned up the ‘clerk’ tag, just days after environment cabinet secretary Keriako Tobiko launched a stinging attack against him.

On Friday last week, a furious CS Tobiko referred to DP Ruto as just a ‘mere clerk’ to President Uhuru Kenyatta. Tobiko was responding to Elgeyo Marakwet senator Kipchumba Murkomen who had launched a series of attacks against him on social media.

Tobiko accused Murkomen of lack of respect, arguing that the DP, who is just a mere clerk to President Kenyatta should also respect the head of state.

Murkomen had earlier on claimed that Tobiko was just a mere clerk in Jubilee government.

“Tobiko you are a mere clerk in Jubilee government. You forget so fast that you became a CS because the President was trying to get rid of you from the office of DPP….” The tweet read

With Tobiko having referred to DP Ruto a mere clerk, the second in command on Sunday September 6, 2020 stepped out donning a cap branded “The hustlers clerk”. He was on a tour in Athi River, Machakos County.

The black cap had the yellow text imprinted on it.

/courtesy

During the tour, the DP told senior civil servants spoiling for a fight with him to think twice. He said that CS Tobiko is just like any other person that the Jubilee administration gave work to do.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Deputy President William Ruto’s former aide Maryanne Keitany has declared  her interest in the Aldai Parliamentary seat.

Keitany, who served as DP Ruto’s Chief of Staff is confident with ousting the incumbent Aldai MP Cornelly Serem.

According to multiple reports, Keitany has in the recent past attended a number of functions in the constituency, raising political temperatures ahead of the 2022 elections.

Over the weekend, Keitany shared the same platforms with Serem in two separate events with the MP saying he is ready to face off with her.

At a church function in Kobujoi, Nandi Governor Stephen Sang in a thinly veiled attack at Serem, said Keitany’s entry into the parliamentary race has put the incumbent MP on his toes.

Aldai is not new to women in leadership, in 2007 Former Powerful Cabinet Minister Dr Sally Kosgei was elected to represent the constituency. Keitany will therefore be banking on history to repeat itself in the coming elections.

Keitany hit the headlines following a noisy divorce with Meru Senator Mithika Linturi.

In 2015, she resigned after being accused of allegedly diverting public money amounting to Sh100 million to fund a bid by MPs to impeach Anne Waiguru, who was then CS in charge of devolution.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Elgeyo Marakwet senator Kipchumba Murkomen on Wednesday September 2, 2020 painfully narrated how President Uhuru Kenyatta had kicked his deputy William Ruto out of a mansion in Mombasa, meant to be his official residence.

Early this year, drama ensued after DP Ruto was reportedly locked out of his official residence with his property packed and taken out of the palatial residence.

Reports indicated that the DP and his handlers had arrived in Mombasa and dropped off his personal effects at his newly refurbished official residence that was formerly Coast Provincial Commissioner’s residence before attending to other matters.

DP Ruto was set to spend the night at the residence but was treated to a rude shock when his personal effects that had been lodged at the facility were hurriedly packed.

Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Wednesday night, the seemingly heartbroken former senate majority leader narrated how the events happened.

Murkomen who had appeared on the famous JKLIVE show said that the president recently kicked his deputy out of a house in Mombasa.

“What became of Uhuru Kenyatta that today he chased William Ruto from a house in Mombasa. He is the same person who has been ordering the arrests of anyone associated with the DP,” he stated.

Murkomen also revealed that three years ago, he was flying with President Uhuru and DP Ruto in a private chopper to Nakuru to assure their supporters that they were ready for a re-run after the election results were nullified by Chief Justice David Maraga.

He however, found it difficult to point out what had exactly happened for the relationship between the party leaders to deteriorate at such a rate.

“What is this one sin that washes away all the good things DP Ruto has done for the President?” he asked.

According to Murkomen, President Kenyatta has been sidelining his deputy, using the Covid-19 pandemic as a cover.

“He hasn’t been inviting him to very important meetings nor has he been giving him any task. Let us stop trying to hide behind diplomacy, the fact is that the President is persecuting his deputy,” Murkomen asserted.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Deputy President William Ruto has fired back at Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe’s remarks during his interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday night.

Murathe while being interviewed by Waihiga Mwaura dragged DP Ruto into the Covid-19 millionaires scandal, claiming that DP’s allies are at the center of the KEMSA scandal.

Murathe distanced himself from a company that had been associated with him and argued that it belonged to partners of DP William Ruto.

This is despite reports that Murathe and the owner of the company that was allegedly awarded a tender by KEMSA had previously partnered in other businesses.

According to Murathe, he partnered with the said individual in a lot of issues but  not on the deal with KEMSA.

He said he had not submitted his evidence to the investigating agencies since he had not been summoned.

Murtahe however, noted that he had filed a complaint with the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) against individuals who linked him to KEMSA scandal.

KEMSA was accused of inflating prices of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and masks and awarding illegal tenders.

In his response, DP Ruto claimed that he was being used as a scapegoat in the scandal and warned that the end of corruption in the country was coming.

“The corruption “consultants”, brokers and conmen, some bankrupt in 2013, are now billionaires after looting while scapegoating WsR (William Samoei Ruto).

“Their overgrown impunity is shamelessly making them steal even from the sick in a pandemic. The end is nigh. Nowhere to hide. No more scapegoating,” stated Ruto.

Ruto condemned the Covid-19 scandal a number of times and even accused ODM of double speak after the party called for thorough investigations in the graft. 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe has distanced himself from Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) scandal that saw millions of shillings meant to combat Covid-19 get lost in poor procurement of equipment.

Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday night, Murathe shifted the blame on Deputy President William Ruto’s allies.

He distanced himself from a company that had been associated with him and argued that it belonged to partners of DP William Ruto.

This is despite reports that Murathe and the owner of the company that was allegedly awarded a tender by KEMSA had previously partnered in other businesses.

According to Murathe, he partnered with the said individual in a lot of issues but  not on the deal with KEMSA.

He said he had not submitted his evidence to the investigating agencies since he had not been summoned.

Murtahe however, noted that he had filed a complaint with the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) against individuals who linked him to KEMSA scandal.

KEMSA was accused of inflating prices of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and masks and awarding illegal tenders.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Jubilee Party vice chairman David Murathe has once again lashed out at Deputy President William Ruto over his continued criticism against the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.

Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday night, Murathe accused DP Ruto of mobilising a ‘No campaign’ even before the BBI team hands over its final report.

According to Murathe, it is wrong to oppose a referendum before knowing the contents of the BBI report.

“I’m surprised that some people are opposing a referendum yet they have not seen the final report. People are taking positions on a document they have not seen. A document that has not been unveiled or presented to the two principals, ” he said.

Murathe said nobody is privy to the contents of the BBI’s final report.”We are all waiting for the document to be unveiled and only then will we know what lies ahead,” he added.

He maintained that everybody  had a chance to present their views to the BBI task force as it was going round collecting opinions.

Speaking during the he weekend at the Coast, Ruto said the Constitution should be fully implemented and not amended.

Ruto had earlier said no one had sought his views on BBI as a member of Jubilee, but Murathe said the President’s stand is taken as the stand of the party.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Deputy President William Ruto has committed to fully fund a 500-chicken farm project for parents of two Nyandarua kids who paid him a visit at his Karen residence in Nairobi on Thursday August 13, 2020.

The second in command noted that the two kids, Teresiah Wakinyua and James Mwangi from Kwa Nganga village in Nyandarua County, reminded him of his childhood in his rural home, the daily challenge of budgeting for so little in the face of many needs.

Ruto went ahead to share the details of his conversation with Teresiah and Mwangi.

He said that he had encouraged them not to surrender, their circumstances notwithstanding.

Ruto assigned his farm manager to personally ensure their parents establish a fully-funded 500-chicken farm. This, he said, is to ensure that the kids have a stable foundation to make their dreams come true

He further noted that the two represent everyone’s collective story of possibilities as a people.

The kids who were with their parents had been accompanied by Nyandarua Women Representative Faith Gitau.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party leader Raila Odinga has responded to Deputy President William Ruto’s outburts.

The second in command had on Tuesday August 11 claimed that there is a plan by the deep state and the system top rig him out in the 2022 general electuions.

The DP who was speaking at his Karen residence noted that he was unstoppable, saying that he would crash the so called deep state.

“I just want to tell them: ‘We’re waiting for you’. This system, this Deep State we are being told about, we are waiting for it. They’ll come with the system, but we will be there with the people and God and see who wins,” said Dr Ruto.

However, Raila on Thursday August 13 said he is unaware of the existence of an ineffable election results manipulator known as the Deep State.

“I, Raila Odinga, do not hold a position in the current Government. The Head of State is known, and the Deputy President is known. If you are talking of the Deep State, who is there? When someone talks about the Deep State [that is outside the Government circles], which one is it? We [in ODM] do not know about the Deep State,” said Raila Odinga while welcoming new members to ODM at Orange House in Nairobi on Thursday, August 13.

“From our previous experiences as ODM, we have learnt a lot; we know where we are coming from, and where we want to go,” he added.

After denying knowledge of the existence of a Deep State outside government circles, Raila was asked by a journalist to respond to his elder brother Oburu Odinga’s claim — that he (Raila) will be a beneficiary of the “system” in 2022 presidential race.

“Oburu Odinga is an individual [entitled to his own opinion],” the ODM leader replied, playing down the consequence of his brother’s remarks.

In late July 2020, Oburu Odinga said that the AU representative for Infrastructure lost previous presidential elections because he was not receiving the backing of the “system”.

“All these elections, we have been getting the most votes, but not ending up in State House because we did not have the system. But now in 2022, we have both the system and our votes which are always the majority — what more could we ask for?” Dr Oburu posed in a previous public address.

Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho on Wednesday August 12 also dismissed DP Ruto’s claims, arguing that there is nothing like the deep state in Kenya.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Interior Principal Secretary, Karanja Kibicho, has responded to Deputy President William Ruto’s ‘deep state’ and ‘system’ rant.

The second in command on Tuesday August 11, 2020, during a meeting held at his Karen residence in Nairobi, claimed that the ‘Deep State’ and ‘system’ are planning to rig him out in the 2022 general elections.

The second in command while insisting that he will be armed with voters and God to crash the system in 2022 cited that he was not afraid of the group dubbed Deep State, a term commonly being used in political debate to refer to boardroom politics.

However, PS Kibicho says that the shadowy entity referred by DP Ruto exists only in the minds of those who have already sensed electoral defeat.

Speaking on Wednesday August 12, 2020 during an interview with Spice FM, Kibicho noted that the deep state and the system that were referred to by Ruto don’t exit in Kenya.

Ruto while raising his claims had also recounted that similar tactics had been used during the 2013 campaign when he teamed up with Uhuru Kenyatta to seek the Presidency.

Ruto’s statement appeared to be a warning to his distractors, from a politician who has been deliberately restrained despite what his supporters see as a direct and repeated provocation by a section of Jubilee Party leaders.

The Deep State is used to refer to a group of highly influential individuals, government officials, and businessmen with deep pockets and wide networks and whose political interests and preferences can sway elections.

His comments come only days after Jubilee Party vice chairman David Murathe and trade unionist Francis Atwoli told the nation to prepare for a Raila Odinga presidency, comparing the ODM man to South Africa’s freedom hero, Nelson Mandela.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Deputy President William Ruto has dared the deep state, citing that he was not afraid of the system.

Ruto in a video that went viral on social media on Tuesday August 11, 2020 termed the deep state as a shadowy group that allegedly controls and influences key decisions in the country, including outcomes of elections.

Ruto says that he will surprise the system in 2022 by ensuring that voters’ ballots will count in the next election.

We are being threatened that there is a system, Deep State, that will steal your votes when you cast your ballots,” said DP Ruto.

He said that this is not the first time threats have been issued.

He was speaking at his Karen residence during a meeting with leaders from Kajiado County led by Kajiado South MP Katoo Ole Metito and Senator Mary Senata.

The DP argued that as the Deep state relies on the system come 2022, he will come with God and voters, the only way he says the system can be outsmarted.

Citing the 2013 General Election when he joined hands with President Uhuru Kenyatta to form Jubilee Party which won the presidential election, Ruto said they were threatened with veiled threats their choice to run will have consequences.

“If I was a coward, I would not have supported President Kenyatta in 2013 because some people told me not to work with him,” he said.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

A Mt Kenya politician who tested positive for Covid-19 days after meeting Deputy President William Ruto at his Karen residence in Nairobi has come out to clarify on how he contracted the virus.

Speaking to a local news publication on Thursday August 6, 2020, Muteti Murimi, a Kirinyaga politician and 2022 parliamentary aspirant acknowledged that indeed he had contracted the virus a few days after the meeting, but maintained  he wasn’t ill when he met the DP.

The politician met Ruto alongside a section of young entrepreneurs from the Mt. Kenya Region.

The group held a consultative meeting with Ruto and later on posed for a photo session.

His response came shortly after a section of Kenyans on Facebook launched attacks on him with accusations of flouting (Coronavirus) Covid-19 rules when meeting Ruto.

“I tested positive two weeks ago but I have already recovered and I am now negative. I was on self isolation and was treated from home. I was well when I went to Karen that Monday (July 20), so the issue of the DP should not arise here,” he was quoted saying.

He added that  all Covid-19 measures were observed during their meeting, maintaining that the DP should not isolate since he was not sick when he visited his Karen residence.

He however, stated that he started experiencing some chest complications and went to hospital and results turned positive.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail