A section of Narok County leaders have come to the aid of embattled Deputy President William Ruto defending him against his recent stand on amendments to the Kenyan constitution.
Speaking on Saturday at Oletukat Secondary School in Narok at a function attended by Deputy President William Ruto to commissioned a girls’ dormitory, the leaders warned those pushing for a referendum that it was only Ruto who had the mandate to do so.
Led by the Narok county Woman Rep Soipan Tuya, the leaders said that it was only Ruto who initially had reservations about the 2010 constitution hence it is only him who will give the direction on where the constitution will be amended through the referendum.
The country and leaders have been torn between whether to amend the 2010 constitution or not.
A section of leaders especially those allied to opposition leader Raila Odinga and Kieleweke movement seeks to radically alter the country’s governance structure by creating the position of an executive prime minister to head the Government, abolishing the Senate, and scrapping the positions of nominated MPs and MCAs.
This proposal has seen leaders from Dp Ruto’s camp vigorously oppose the move saying that Raila Odinga and a section of ‘losers’ in the general elections are seeking to create more personal benefiting positions in the constitution adding more burden to the public instead of reducing it.
Dr. Ruto has on several occasions reiterated that he will only support a referendum if it is geared at ensuring that ‘useless’ positions in the government burdening the public are scrapped off with no intentions of additional posts for greedy leaders.
Tuya asked Ruto to ignore his critics, who she described as being jealous of his energy and development-oriented vision.
“All these politics are geared towards creating a shortcut to State House, but unfortunately the only way out is to reach to the people which you (DP) has perfected,” she said.
Various groups have also been calling for a referendum for different reasons, including the need to tame the soaring public wage bill, open the door to a parliamentary system of government, strengthen devolution and redress electoral injustices.
But the clamour to overhaul the governance structure is being fuelled mainly by concerns about the bloated wage bill, a soaring public debt that has burdened Kenyans with heavy taxes, and the charged political environment every electioneering period.
Happy to commission a fully equipped Suswa Girls Secondary School, the outcome of a harambee project, which realised Sh25m on 25 August, 2015. It started with 42 girls, but now boasts of over 400 students, Suswa, Narok East, Narok County. pic.twitter.com/BdlcG2YUjN
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) May 25, 2019
Deputy President William Ruto on his part stayed clear off referendum talks instead rubbishing Opposition leader Raila Odinga’s claims that he is a whistle-blower in the ongoing gold scam involving a United Arab Emirates ruler, terming his claims as rhetoric and propaganda.
“Some people are going round telling Kenyans a lot of stories but I want to tell them that such empty rhetoric will not change the lives of Kenyans,” said Ruto.
These efforts make available a qualified pool of youth to join the labour market; earn higher incomes and catalyse economic progress. pic.twitter.com/BBrYMy69bh
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) May 25, 2019
The DP asked his critics to first seek the kingdom of God before thinking of leading the country at the top level. He said: “Titles are useless if one has no plan of going to heaven. Even the book of Mathew 6:33 says that one should seek the Kingdom of God first and the rest will follow”.
His allies led by legislators Lemanken Aramat (Narok East), Vincent Musyoka (Mwala) and area Woman Rep Soipan Tuya went ballistic on Raila over his whistle-blowing claims, terming him hypocritical.
Opened Oletukat Secondary School and Narok East CDF office, Nairegia Enkare, Narok East, Narok County. pic.twitter.com/eGVG0WTf3o
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) May 25, 2019
“If someone has confirmed that he actually travelled and met the UAE ruler over fake gold, then the DCI should do his work. If they were indeed whistle blowers, why are they panicking?” said Aramat.
Musyoka also rubbished Uhuru and Raila’s March 2018 handshake saying that it has soiled Jubilee’s image with other leaders taking advantage of it to settle political soars against the deputy President William Ruto
Entrenching a working infrastructure in schools and ensuring a favourable learning climate is key to increasing enrollment and attaining a 100 percent transition rate to higher levels of education. pic.twitter.com/uINBo7jdhC
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) May 25, 2019