DP Ruto: I will remove secrecy around gun purchases

Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader Deputy President William Ruto has pledged to embrace open tendering for military equipment should he form the next government, saying he will make sure that buying guns is not a security issue.

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate said he will open up for scrutiny tender on purchase of military equipment doing away with confidentiality and mystery currently surrounding the process.

“Why can’t it be done in open tender? These security secret things is where corruption thrives,” said Dr Ruto.
He argued the process should not be made a big deal wondering why the exercise is made confidential yet police officers walk in the streets with guns.

“Why is it a mystery and why is it in some dark room? The guns are all over in the streets carried by police officers what is the big deal anyway? They are classified as security purchases so a gun being sold for Sh20,000 is being sold at Sh60,000,” he said.

He was speaking in Nairobi Baptist Church on Wednesday during a meeting with the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya accompanied by Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria.

The DP said insecurity is rife in the country despite big budget being allocated to security matters because crooks, terrorists and bad people have been left to roam freely, a challenge he said his administration will firmly and decisively deal with.

He said he will make sure the office of the Inspector General has its own budget and made totally independent so as to effectively execute its mandate.

Currently, he said the inspector general relies on the office of the President for a budget and so has to speak nicely to some people at the office of the President to get funds.

“We must get the IG his own budget as the constitution says it is an independent office yet today they don’t have that. When I asked, they told me you know you can’t give somebody a gun and money. So if they have guns you don’t give them money so that they don’t cause trouble,” the DP said.

“But I will do things differently by giving the office its own budget with its own accounting officer and then demand from them to sort out insecurity in the country,” he added.

At the same time, the DP said he is open to amending the constitution should the amendment be geared towards addressing inclusivity in the country.

This, he pointed out, provided that such a move will mean creating gender inclusivity as well as that of other vulnerable groups.

“Inclusivity comes in different ways and levels and it is one thing that I will support that we need to amend the constitution on matters of trying to create gender and other vulnerable groups’ inclusivity,” said Dr Ruto.

“That is one thing that I will support in amending the constitution so that we can create greater women and other categories in leadership. I am a democrat and when the majority speaks, you cannot stand in their way,” he added.

At appointive level, the DP said, his administration will ensure it meets the requirement of the constitution when it comes to government appointments.

“It is easier in appointive positions because I will make sure I meet the requirements of the Constitution when it comes to cabinet appointments, ambassadorial and others,” he said.

Dr Ruto pointed out that he was not against the clamour for constitutional amendment that was being pushed in the country through the Building Bridges Initiative constitutional amendment drive.

However, he explained that he only had reservations with certain clauses in the initiative that he found were only meant to benefit the political class instead of the common citizen, which the court vindicated his stance.

“I did not say the whole BBI thing was bad. I pointed out issues that needed to be dealt with as BBI had serious issues that I raised and they are the same issues that the court found fault with the whole BBI process. So circumstances have vindicated what I said,” said the DP.

Nonetheless, he said, the greater inclusivity lies in economic inclusivity that can be realised through fashioning Kenya’s economy to make sure it creates opportunities to the majority of citizens.

“I believe it is possible for us to fashion programmes, policies and projects that will create opportunities for jobs for the four million youth out of school with certificates but no jobs. I will re-engineer the economy to create the jobs I am talking about,” he said