Deputy President William Ruto and his former ally Cherangany MP Joshua Kuttuny has been on tag of war over maize scandal.
According to MP Kutuny DP Ruto should not to expect votes from farmers for opposing better maize prices.His sentiments came after Ruto asked the farmers to diversify, saying it was the way to go. He said those opposed to crop diversification were fools.
In his statement he said, “Those people opposing diversification should be rejected by voters and should be denied even a chance to look after cattle because they are fools.”
He was referring to Kutuny, MPs Alfred Keter and Silas Tiren who asked for investigations on the DP over the maize scandal. Kutuny yesterday said Ruto’s response had confirmed he has no interest of maize farmers.
”Any leader opposed to fighting for better maize prices should not expect any votes from the farmer,” Kutuny said.
On November 18, Alfred Keter of Nandi Hills, Joshua Kuttuny (Cherengany) and Silas Tiren (Moiben) alleged Ruto was encouraging farmers to drop maize production to open the market for him to import maize from Congo.
In a scathing attack on the DP, the rebel Jubilee legislators alleged the DP has bought a 500-acre piece of land in Congo and that he was positioning himself as the principal maize supplier by discouraging the region from maize farming.
Their statement was in reaction to government’s stand that a bag of 90kg of maize would be bought at Sh2,300 next season.
They claimed Ruto was behind the prices which they termed too low.
“We want to tell the DP that we know the problems and cartels frustrating farmers are directly linked to him and his office and that is why we want all leaders probed,” Keter said.