Ruto: We will take over Coast

Deputy President William Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto.

Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group

Deputy President William Ruto on Thursday vowed that his ‘hustler’s movement’ will take over the Coast region parading the newly elected Msambweni MP Feisal Bader as their “firstborn”.

Dr Ruto, who led the Tangatanga politicians who are supporting his 2022 candidature, said his train had already left the station and was unstoppable.

While addressing Kwale residents in Msambweni,  he has asked Kenyans not to bow to pressure and threats from popular parties but to remain firm and vote for visionary leaders who have the potential of transforming their living standards.

“The people of Msambweni refused to bow to pressure and threats but instead went ahead to vote for the influential Mr Bader. He has no known political background but he managed to beat the ODM candidate. This is a new record that shows that regardless of where one comes from, he/she can ascend to a leadership position,” said the DP.

He also criticised former PM Raila Odinga saying that Kenya will only be built through visionary leadership and not through politics of hatred and tribalism.

During the homecoming party for Mr Bader, the Tangatanga team welcomed impeached Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and nominated Senator Issack Mwaura who said they had defected from Jubilee Party to Mr Ruto’s team.

Abandoning

Mr Sonko criticised President Uhuru Kenyatta and accused him of abandoning and frustrating his close allies who campaigned for him in 2013 and 2017.

“I was impeached because the former leaders of this country did not know my father. Dictators have teamed up to ensure that one of them ascend to the presidency,” he claimed. Mr Sonko faced charges of theft and abuse of office during his Senate impeachment.

Mr Sonko lamented how the national government took key functions from Nairobi county and claimed that the Jubilee government did not have the interest of Kenyans at heart.

The Tangatanga politicians who attended the function said that the wave of the ‘hustler nation’ movement has kicked off in Kwale and urged Kenyans to join the team so that they can benefit from DP Ruto’s leadership “when he ascends to presidency in 2022”.

But former Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale said he was still a member of JP and has not planned to exit any time soon. He said he has “shares” in the party that he cannot just leave like that.

“Leaving the party will take longer because it will need legal guidance. DP Ruto is the largest shareholder in JP as the deputy party leader after Mr Kenyatta,” said Duale.

The politicians dismissed  BBI claiming that its proponents are people already in leadership positions and urged Kenyans to reject it.

Coast politicians who attended the function called for the region’s political party, which they will use to bargain at the national level and proposed that Kwale governor Salim Mvurya be their leader.

Dr Ruto also has promised that the government will complete the projects it had started at the Coast despite the financial constraints facing the country.