Deputy President William Ruto has accused ODM leader Raila Odinga and his allies of scheming to lock him out of the Jubilee Party.
Dr Ruto claimed the opposition leader is responsible for the break-up of many other parties in the past having party-hopped in the pretext of forging unity in the country.
He said Jubilee founders are already seeing indications that their party is being rocked by the “invaders”, and asked other loyal members to roll up their sleeves and be ready to protect what they initiated.
“Let them be told early, while it is still daytime, before things run haywire. Let us be focused, we will not accept those who want to hijack matters to do with uniting Kenyans to destroy our party so that we go back to politics of ethnicity, confusion and divisions,” Dr Ruto said on Friday in Kisii County.
UNITY CALL
Noting that this is not the first time he is being fought politically, he said: “We have been there before, we have learnt our lessons and we are marching forward with the unity of our nation.”
He promised his opponents a gruelling fight and vowed not to accept divisions in the ruling party.
He said Mr Odinga is only pretending to unite Kenyans, but in reality wants to see divisions in the country by first wrecking Jubilee.
Dr Ruto said the ODM chief cannot purport to press for unity while chasing others out of the party.
“Unafikiria sisi ni wajinga kiasi gani? (How foolish do you think we are?) We are already seeing signs,” he said, vowing not to move an inch from the party that he co-founded with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
2022 ELECTION
At the time, Dr Ruto fell out with some of his allies, among them former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, who later formed Chama Cha Mashinani and teamed up with opposition leaders to form Nasa.
The Deputy President was speaking during the ISO accreditation launch for Tabaka Mission Hospital Medical Testing Laboratory.
He cautioned Jubilee members to be alert and to safeguard their party. “Do not allow the party to be wrecked by people whose main agenda is to see it dead,” he cautioned.
He was hosted by South Mugirango MP Sylvanus Osoro and accompanied by Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi and lawmakers Alpha Miruka (Bomachoge Chache) and Zadock Ogutu (Bomachoge Borabu).
DEVELOPMENT
He vowed to soldier on in his tours around the country to foster development.
His allies have been on record accusing Mr Odinga of taking advantage of the historic handshake with President Kenyatta to scuttle Dr Ruto’s 2022 presidential ambitions, an allegation the ODM leader has often denied.
“There are people who thrive in chaos and shedding blood. We will not allow them to block and destroy our path. We will not walk out of our party, we have been there before,” Dr Ruto told his political nemesis.
CORRUPTION
Mr Osoro lashed out at Mr Odinga, asking him why Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa is being pushed out of ODM if indeed he is sincere in uniting Kenyans.
“In our Kisii community, our culture does not allow us to fight with women, it is an abomination,” the South Mugirango MP said.
Mr Maangi said that while he and others support the ongoing war against corruption, it will lose its meaning if it is politicised and only focused on the DP.
“We ask that they be sincere in their fight against graft, this way we will save the country and achieve our agenda in recovering billions of shillings lost in corrupt dealings,” Mr Maangi said.