Deputy President Dr. William Ruto has trashed demands by Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga on IEBC to use manual register as he accused him of planning to scuttle the August 9 elections.
Dr. Ruto was addressing his supporters in Turkana County where he revealed Odinga’s plans to derail the elections by mounting unreasonable demands on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“You can’t derail this election; you cannot select who will be in charge of IEBC because you have said that there won’t be elections without a manual register,” said Ruto.
The Kenya Kwanza presidential flag bearer also revealed that the ODM leader’s claims that “no manual register, no election” call is part of Azimio candidate’s wider scheme to force his way into the next government like he did after losing in the 2017 polls.
“…IEBC is an independent body. It cannot take instructions from any of us acting as an umpire in the political arena… “If he has realized that his numbers are not enough and deep state isn’t helping him, let him desist from threats.
“Kenyans will elect their leaders. I will not allow him to issue threats or ultimatums because Kenya belongs to all of us. I am assuring Kenyans that we will have a peaceful election,” he added.
Dr. Ruto further pledged to deal with the banditry in Turkana County as he addressed roadside rallies in Lokichoggio and Lodwar. He also vowed to address water problems and connect more families to the national grid.
“The Kenya Kwanza Alliance government will open up Turkana County through construction of more roads and completion of the ones that have stalled. To connect more people to electricity, we will invest in off-grid power installation to connect more villages to power,” said Dr Ruto.
He was in the company of Turkana Governor Governor Josphat Nanok who doubles up as his campaign chairman, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula and Starehe MP Charles Njagua.
Dr. Ruto also addressed the insecurity issue in the region and along the Kerio Valley which has escalated after government deployed some 5,000 national police reservists that were later disarmed.
He pledged that Kenya Kwanza administration will tackle the conflict between Turkana and the borders of Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan by establishing a military camp in the region.
“Security at the border is not negotiable. We will establish military camps to ensure border residents and their livestock are protected from attacks from Ethiopia and South Sudan,” said Ruto.
And on dealing with the famine in the region, the DP proposed that the only reliable way to fight hunger in Turkana is through irrigation as he promised to explore the Lotikipi aquifer.
“We will exploit the Lotikipi aquifer to ensure the plains with arable land produce food through irrigation to make the county a granary of the country.
“We will get adequate water to ensure the livestock don’t die during cycles of drought. We will exploit underground water in asal regions to tackle hunger and starvation,” he said.
Dr Ruto also said the mathenge weed which is causing havoc in the county by invading thousands of acres of land will be cleared to create more land for farming.
“We will invest enough resources to ensure that we improve in our agriculture through irrigation, subsidized seeds and fertilizer so that every citizen can live in a country where they can afford food and in the end tackle high poverty rates,” Ruto said.
The Kenya Kwanza flag bearer had also visited Turkana on June 15 when he led an economic forum meeting before launching the coalition’s detailed manifesto on June 30.
Dr. Ruto is leaving nothing to chance in his bid to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta who will retire after the August 9 polls.
