Nairobi, September 9

Deputy President William Samoei Ruto has taken the political war to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s door, viciously attacking him and his supporters.

Mr Ruto, while addressing Kisii leaders at his official residence in Karen on Wednesday, September 8, in a veiled attack, accused the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader of causing instability in the government, leading to the fallout between him and his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The Deputy President said it was shameless for the former National Super Alliance (NASA) principals Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula, to criticize the government they have since joined.

“And to you NASA people, aren’t you ashamed of yourselves? For the last four years, you have been in the government, now you want to run away and start criticising us after messing up. Don’t you respect yourself?” wondered the Deputy President.

Mr Ruto, who is now treated like an outsider in the Jubilee government he helped form, further pointed fingers at the opposition leaders for altering the agenda they had set with the President.

“You have been so happy that I was ‘kicked out’ of the government. But you came in when I had left you with a solid agenda including the Big Four Agenda that you never implemented, instead you went on to try force and implement Reggae (referring to the Constitution Amendment Bill, 2020, famously referred to as the Building Bridges Initiative - BBI),” added the Deputy President, who was speaking in Swahili, amid cheers from the Kisii leaders.

The Deputy President, who has indicated that he would seek the country’s top job on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, further accused the NASA politicians of joining the government with an agenda to share power and positions.

“When you joined the government, you came in with another agenda of sharing power and positions, you sabotaged our plan.”

He asked the opposition leaders to leave him alone.

“Now that you celebrated I left the government for you, what else do you want? Leave me alone,” he added.

“Gentlemen, if you make your bed, you must lie on it.”

Mr Ruto has been at loggerheads with his boss, Mr Kenyatta, and the opposition leaders who are also in the race to become the country’s fifth president.