Deputy President William Ruto’s utterances have yet again been subjected to public scrutiny, with a section of legislators allied to Raila Odinga’s ODM accusing him of misleading Kenyans.
In a statement that has attracted online criticism, Ruto on Sunday accused the media of reporting ‘fake news’ over alleged deaths of people in hunger-stricken counties across the country.
“There is a lot of fake news about what is happening. We have been told that 11 people have died, but that is not true. No one has died as a result of the drought, and we are working round the clock to ensure that no one dies of hunger,” he said in Mombasa during the Inter-professional Summit.
But National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi now claims that whenever the DP speaks on national issues, he ends up annoying Kenyans.
He accused him of lying on several occasions while addressing the media on Thursday in Nairobi.
“Kenyans are not specimens to die in the affected areas so that those in authority [may] know it is hunger that has killed them. The more he continues to talk on national issues, the more he annoys us,” he said.
His Minority Whip counterpart Junet Mohammed also raised concerns over Ruto’s recent remarks about hunger, adding that he should go slow when commenting on serious governance issues.
“We have listened patiently to comments by senior government officials on this grave matter, and we do not see the kind of seriousness we expect to see from their statements.
“By saying that the news that people have died is ‘fake’, yet government officials on the ground have confirmed [reports of death to be true], is careless, irresponsible and insensitive,” scoffed Junet.
Even as the government maintained that there is enough food to help those affected by hunger, Red Cross International has made an appeal to have Kenyans contribute towards helping families that are affected.
Some of the counties struggling with drought include Turkana, Baringo, Tana River, West Pokot, Wajir and several other Nothern Kenya region.