Ruto hits out at coalition critics

Deputy President William Ruto has warned Jubilee politicians against engaging in divisive politics.

Mr Ruto said the government was steadfast and clear on its path under the leadership of President Kenyatta, and did not need middlemen, interpreters or brokers to show them how to run a government.

The Deputy President was speaking Sunday at St Bernadette Catholic Church- Ngoingwa in Thika, where he attended Mass and took part in a fund-raiser in aid of the church.

In a veiled reference to Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, who recently complained there were two centres of power in the Jubilee Coalition, Mr Ruto criticized those he called junior politicians from the coalition complaining through the media for allegedly being short-changed, saying they were suffering from hangovers of the past.

“This is not the past coalition government that was steeped in complaints about who is being denied this and that privilege, it is a government led by a hands-on President with tremendous abilities and an able deputy, (leaders) who are aware of where they are leading this country,” he said.

He dismissed as “petty politicking”, allegations that the union between URP and TNA was under threat as a result of “skewed” appointments in government.

An article on the Sunday Nation, quoted Mr Keter saying the Kalenjin were getting increasingly impatient and claimed that the Deputy President was also unsettled by the state of affairs in the Jubilee government. (READ: URP unhappy in government, MP claims)

“Things are not working as expected. The appointments are skewed towards one party yet our people were told this is a 50-50 power sharing plan,” the lawmaker had claimed.

But the Deputy President dismissed the claims as a “hangover from the days of half a loaf of bread” in reference to the former grand coalition government.

“I am telling these politicians especially those in Jubilee to style up. We have a country to run, we have a manifesto to deliver on and there is no time for petty politicking,” Mr Ruto said. He dismissed as “petty politicking”, allegations that the union between United Republican Party and The National Alliance was under threat as a result of skewed appointments in government.

And Mr Keter Sunday, hit out at Kericho Senator Charles Keter, accusing him of being blinded by sycophancy to an extent that he could not see the wrongs in the government.

Reacting to the Senator’s claims that he was “a greenhorn politician and a gun for hire” over his allegation that there was disquiet in the Jubilee coalition over the presence of more than one centre of power in government, Mr Keter maintained that he would stick by his statement and accused the Senator of “denying the obvious.”

The Nandi Hills MP had also complained that URP, under the leadership of the Deputy President, was not being respected enough by its coalition partner, The National Alliance (TNA) which is led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“I know what I said and I stand by it. The senator must shed off his sycophancy before he can see what is really going on within the government,” said the angry MP.

Last week while attending a funeral in Kipkelion West Constituency in Kericho County, the younger Keter (Nandi Hills MP) and his Bomet East MP Bernard Bett warned that a clique of high ranking government officials illegally wielded massive influence and appears to have set up another center of power within the government.