William Ruto accuses Raila Odinga of sabotaging Jubilee plans to empower youth

Deputy President William Ruto has accused ODM party leader Raila Odinga of sabotaging plans by the Jubilee government to empower over four million unemployed youth.

He said Mr Odinga also interfered with plans to fight food insecurity in the country.

Speaking in Kilifi town, the DP brushed off calls for constitutional amendments and said it is time to improve the economy for the sake of vulnerable and poor Kenyans.

“There are some people who are trying to play with us. They are telling us that all our plans to improve the livelihoods of our people are useless and that the priority is changing the constitution to create more powers and elective positions,” he said. “We are telling them ignorance, pride and tribalism will come to an end next year during the General Election.”

He added: “We are telling them that before they bother us with constitutional amendments to give the President more powers and to create leadership positions for people, let them give us time to improve the economy, and create employment for our people.” 

Bottom-up agenda

Dr Ruto said the narrative in the country is now bottom-up agenda, his brainchild.

“They thought it was a joke, but the hustler narrative has forced them to support the bottom-up agenda. Each of them is now speaking about issues touching on common Kenyans and how to improve the economy,” he added.

“We are telling them that they are yet to see more, and they will get used to it,” he added as he criticised Mr Odinga’s promise to provide cash transfers to unemployed youths is he takes the presidency.

The DP said youth in the country do not need handouts but employment.

He further stated that women need to be empowered and supported with funds to run their businesses to become independent.

“Our priority is to economically empower unemployed youth and entrepreneurs working under hard environment to be stable,” he said.

Noting that vulnerable youth and women are taking Fuliza loans while others are on listed by Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs) for defaulting on debts the DP said: “We must put in place a financial ecosystem that will ensure all businesswomen in the country that struggling to raise money to do their businesses.”

End poverty

He added that his government will set aside Sh120 million in every constituency, just like the National Government-Constituency Development Fund, for small businesses.

“This is the only way to end poverty in the grassroots,” he said.

He further promised to reduce the cost of living for Kenyans by supporting farmers if he is elected president next year.

“Many Kenyans are struggling to buy food. We want to reduce the cost of food by supporting and empowering farmers by providing farm inputs and water, and also kick out brokers and cartels to enable the farmers to earn from their work,” he said.

Dr Ruto said the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party is going to bring all Kenyans together.

“After issues in Jubilee and ODM, we decided to move out of the parties to form UDA which will speak in the language of a common Kenyan and form the next government that will have inclusivity,” he said.

Earlier, Dr Ruto donated food worth Sh2 million to residents of Vitengeni in Ganze and Sh2 million for businesswomen in Kilifi.