Prepare for elections defeat, Raila Odinga tells William Ruto
Azimio rally at Tononoka Grounds in Mombasa on August 5, 2022.
Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga has promised Deputy President William Ruto a humiliating defeat as he finalised his Coast tours ahead of next week's polls.
Mr Odinga said he has received enough insults from Dr Ruto, but next Tuesday will determine the strongest candidate.
“He has abused me for so long, but next week on Tuesday we will see who will win the election. We will show them how to govern this country," Mr Odinga told his supporters at Tononoka Grounds in Mombasa.
The ODM leader told his supporters that the Azimio la Umoja government will not tolerate corruption. He at the same time called for six-piece voting, saying it will help him implement his agenda for the country.
Mr Odinga's running mate, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, reminded Kenyans that this is the only opportunity they have to vote in leaders with a sound agenda to transform the country.
She asked Kenyans to vote wisely by choosing the Azimio camp, which she said comprised leaders with integrity. "Your vote will either save this country or allow cartels to get into power to continue plundering the resources.”
Ms Karua asked Kenyans to reject Dr Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza brigade, noting that they do not have any agenda to liberate the country. She also called on Dr Ruto to respect President Uhuru Kenyatta and stop the verbal attack if he wants to be respected.
"You are abusing Mr Kenyatta, yet you want to become president; who will respect you? Correct someone in respectfully, not through insults," she said. “There is no school with two principals, one must be the deputy."
The Narc Kenya leader urged Coast residents not to abandon Mr Odinga when he is closer to the presidency more than ever.
"I know you have supported Mr Odinga for so long, do not abandon him when he is now at the finishing line. We have the solution to corruption bedevilling the country."
Ms Karua asked Kenyans to vote for leaders with integrity in the coming polls and reject shameless ones who trade insults instead of offering solutions to the challenges facing the country.
Mr Odinga was accompanied by former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth, Mombasa governor Hassan Joho, businessman Suleiman Shahbal, among other leaders.
In Kilifi, Mr Odinga told residents that their vote for his presidency in August would end corruption and urged them to come out in large numbers to vote for change. “The August 9 General Election is between the corrupt and those who will save Kenyans, and it is time for us to decide to end corruption,” he said.
He brushed off Governor Amason Kingi’s Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) party and accused him of not developing the county, including the famous Karisa Maitha Grounds (Bukhungu) in Kilifi town.
Mr Odinga said Governor Kingi has been a crybaby. “Governor Kingi could not perform even with the money he gets; he has failed to build county headquarters. With all the money, he says that I have not helped him. Raila is not in government. I am at home, and he is the one getting over Sh10 billion every year.”
Earlier in the day in Lamu, Ms Karua cautioned residents and Kenyans at large against voting for the Kenya Kwanza team, adding that their competitors cannot be trusted with public resources.
Addressing hundreds of supporters in Mpeketoni town, Ms Karua said DP Ruto and his running mate, Rigathi Gachagua, are incapacitated in so far as fighting and ending corruption in the country is concerned, insisting that the duo have been implicated in corrupt deals and land-grab across the country.
Citing a case between DP Ruto and the late Uasin Gishu-based farmer Adrian Muteshi, in which the DP was found to have illegally acquired the latter’s land, Ms Karua said the solution to corruption and land-grabbing is the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition team.
She maintained that the Ruto-Gachagua ticket cannot be entrusted with the country’s leadership.
By Brian Ocharo, Maureen Ongala and Kalume Kazungu
