Deputy President William Ruto declined to reveal his net worth during BBC HARD talk interview aired on Monday.
Instead of quoting figures as many viewers expected, Mr. Ruto chose to tell the host, Stephen Sackur, to “do his homework”, when the interviewer asked him to say publicly the value of everything he owns. In response, DP, Ruto said,
“That information is available in public domain. I encourage you to Google and find out what William Ruto owns. I am prepared to tell you where to find that information, Sackur,” said Mr. Ruto.
Mr. Sackur immediately Interrupted, saying: “Do you think that information you are telling me makes any sense?”
Mr. Ruto replied affirmatively: “Of course, it does. It doesn’t make sense to you?
Mr. Sackur, in response, said: “Not really, because you do not want to tell me how much you are worth, [yet you say it is in public domain]?”
The DP, seemingly, irritated, said: “Why don’t you do your homework?”
“I am very keen on doing my homework,” said Mr. Sackur.
“Please, do your homework and get the numbers,” said the DP.
In the BBC interview, the DP denied claims that Kenyans perceive only him to be the “most corrupt” politician in the country. He also dismissed the IPSOS survey report which identified him as the most corrupt politician. Instead, he said the government of Kenya is committed to fighting corruption.
“We have the fight against corruption on the eyeball. The country today believes that this [Jubilee] administration is serious about the fight against corruption. And, there are results that are clearly bearing fruits; the number of prosecutions, the number of convictions; if they are anything to go by, then it tells you that the country has changed the trajectory on matters to do with corruption,” added the DP.
In the same interview, Mr. Ruto acknowledged that the land that his Weston Hotel sits on was illegally acquired.