Jubilee secretary-general Mr. Jeremiah Kioni has expressed anger over police officers offering protection to the Deputy President Dr. William Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza allies in campaigns.
Kioni accused the police of offering more protection to the deputy president than to Azimio La Umoja flag-bearer Raila Odinga as he demanded for fairness in allocation of security personnel.
“We understand that this is so because our security agents have been interacting with UDA members for the last 10 years while we were busy working,” he said
Kioni is part of the politicians from the Mt. Kenya region who have failed to market the candidature of Raila Odinga in their own backyard where DP Ruto is enjoying the support of the majority. He further claimed that Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition is confident making inroads in Mt Kenya region ahead of the August 9 polls.
He was speaking in Nyeri where he also accused Kenya Kwanza of camping in areas where Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua had recently campaigned in.
“The reception they are getting is not what they were getting in the last six years,” he said.
Kioni is hopeful that Mr Odinga’s support in Mt Kenya will grow as he hopes for DP Ruto’s support to dwindle in the region.
“For Ruto to win, he has to get all the votes he got in Mt Kenya when he was with Uhuru … as we talk, the Mt Kenya votes are not in Ruto’s basket. The people should read the signs of the times,” Kioni said.
The former Ndaragwa MP and Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu told the press that politicians allied to DP Ruto will stop following him in his campaigns to focus on winning back their seats.
Azimo La Umoja coalition is still trailing Kenya Kwanza’a Ruto in Mt. Kenya region even after naming Martha Karua who comes from the region as Odinga’s running mate.
Mr. Kioni went on to claim that Kenya Kwanza is preparing to challenge the August election results in court but they will beat them with a huge margin to avoid going to court.
“United Democratic Alliance (UDA) is preparing to challenge Raila in court. They know they have lost the 2022 polls. That is why they wrote to the DPP,” Mr Kioni said.
DP Ruto recently called on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji to institute charges against five cabinet secretaries in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government.
The CSs led by Interior’s Fred Matiang’i, Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, Eugene Wamalwa (Defence), Joe Mucheru (ICT), Keriako Tobiko (Environment) and James Macharia of Transport among other high profile functionaries in government are openly campaigning for Raila Odinga.
Dr. Ruto wants the CSs to be charged for contravening Section 15 of the Elections Offences Act of 2016 which stipulates that; “A public officer should not engage in activities of any political party or candidate, or publicly indicate support for or opposition against any party or candidate participating in an election.”
