Do not accept a puppet President, Ruto tells Nyanza

Deputy President William Ruto has told Nyanza residents not to accept their 'son' Raila Odinga to be made a puppet ruler.

DP Ruto, who was with Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi and his Ford Kenya counterpart Moses Wetang’ula, all members of the Kenya Kwanza alliance, pleaded with Nyanza residents to reject a weak President.

The trio said the 'Raila Odinga project' is being launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta who they said wants to remain in power through the back door.

They claimed that residents were being duped to believe that Mr Odinga would be made President, not knowing that he was being remotely controlled by the current head of state.

The three spoke in Ekerubo Gietai, Mabundu and Gesima in Nyamira County before heading to Ibacho and Etago in Kisii County.

"Those who think that they can govern from behind and (without being) elected are not being genuine to themselves,” said Dr Ruto, noting that those driving the “Odinga project” are well known.

“We are telling them to come out of the shadows and stop pretending. Let us compete with you and forget about Mzee Odinga. Let him rest.”

He added that those who are driving the claimed project know very well that it will not succeed on its own.

This was the first Kenya Kwanza campaign rally in Gusii, one of the regions that Dr Ruto has been focusing on in his campaigns.

He is using the Abagusii and Kuria communities as his entry point to the Nyanza region.

But he still has a difficult task rallying residents behind his bid.

Nyanza is Mr Odinga's political backyard and the ODM leader, unlike in the previous elections, is this time round getting a lot of support from the government.

Already, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, President Kenyatta’s right-hand man, has teamed up with elected leaders from the region to drum up support for the former Prime Minister.

Mr Mudavadi and Mr Wetang’ula said President Kenyatta wants to lead from the back door.

"He has put Odinga as a project and soon he will give him a deputy to be project number two. He will remain there as patron and control remotely," Mr Mudavadi said.

"From the current happenings in the political scene, the President wants to succeed himself. We are not going to allow him to do that."

President Kenyatta is expected to endorse Mr Odinga for President at a Jubilee National Delegates Conference to be held on February 25 and 26.

Mr Mudavadi told Nyamira residents that he valued them and asked them to reciprocate the love by voting for Dr Ruto as their President in the August 9 General election.

"I first made my earthquake remarks on Nyamira's soil. And we surely felt the earthquake. It sent many people scampering for their safety," said the ANC leader.

Notably, Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo, the only ANC governor in the country, was conspicuously missing in Thursday’s Kenya Kwanza tour in Gusii.

Mr Nyaribo had indicated that he would not want to be associated with Dr Ruto and his United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party, warning his party boss that he would decamp from ANC if the two started working together.

But Dr Ruto received Nyaribari Masaba MP and Kisii governorship aspirant Ezekiel Machogu in his camp at Ibacho.

Mr Machogu's entry into Kenya Kwanza is a blow to the Azimio la Umoja movement, which he has associated with for the past two years.

"I have joined the hustler nation because I realise we will gain more under the Deputy President," said Mr Machogu.

The DP, however, suffered a blow after several politicians that he had hoped to unveil together with Mr Machogu as his supporters snubbed his Thursday rallies.

Former MPs Zebedeo Opore (Bonchari) and Stephen Manoti (Bobasi) were no-shows after months of being coerced by the DP to join his team.

Until two weeks ago, they had promised to join Dr Ruto's camp, which would have been a major boost, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Dr Ruto has been struggling to revive his hustler movement in Kisii after the defection of Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi to Azimio la Umoja in December last year.

Infighting, divisions and wrangling in the Kisii camp threaten to weaken the DP's popularity in Gusii.

MPs Joash Nyamoko (North Mugirango), Shadrack Mose (Kitutu Masaba), Vincent Kemosi (West Mugirango), Silvanus Osoro (South Mugirango), Alpha Miruka (Bomachoge Chache) and nominated Senator Millicent Omanga accompanied the Kenya Kwanza leaders.

The DP said that Kenya Kwanza was destined to take power in August.

“Our alliance with Mudavadi and Wetang’ula is a sign of great things to come, with many more leaders set to join us soon,” he said.

The DP took pride in the development projects undertaken by the Jubilee government, even as he criticised it for its failures.

He said that 102,000 people have been connected to the national grid compared to 12,000 in 2013, and 300km of roads have been tarmacked in Nyamira County in the past eight years.

The second in command promised that all unachieved Big Four agenda projects will be accomplished when he is elected President.

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