DP Ruto slams Uhuru-Raila handshake, says it derailed Big Four agenda

Deputy President William Ruto has continued his onslaught against Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga, blaming him for failures of the Jubilee administration.

DP Ruto said the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta na Odinga derailed the Big Four agenda, which he now says he is ready to accomplish if elected president next year.

The DP also indirectly hit out at his boss President Kenyatta over his perceived backing of the ODM chief, a Jubilee outsider, ahead of the 2022 polls.

Speaking in Kiritiri, Embu County, on Friday, Ruto accused the president of overlooking dedicated Jubilee supporters in favour of his former nemesis and their main rival in the last elections.

“You are telling me that all of us, eight million, have formed the government twice, that there is not even one amongst us who can lead us?” Ruto posed.

“Really? No. No. Isn’t that a big insult? Isn’t that an insult? That amongst all of us, eight million people, we can’t get a person who can lead and that they have to hire another person?”

Ruto claimed Odinga rocked the ruling Jubilee party's boat, thereby stalling the government’s Big Four agenda and its subsequent projects.

He dismissed the push by President Kenyatta and Odinga to change the Constitution instead of propelling the Big Four agenda which he said was meant to uplift the lives of Kenyans.

DP Ruto, in his second tour of Embu County, promised to set aside government funds to be used as grants to struggling SMEs if elected to the top seat.

He said his administration would prioritize the economy, adding that his bottom-up model will be the answer to the struggles facing Kenyans.

The DP promised to continue with all the projects that President Kenyatta’s administration has been unable to fulfil and which they pledged to Kenyans during their 2017 campaigns.

Ruto said if elected he will “revive” the Big Four agenda and pump Ksh.100 billion into it to create jobs, ensure food security, establish universal health coverage and revitalise manufacturing.