Ruto warns Cord over plans to hold demos against laws

Deputy President William Ruto on Sunday told off the Opposition over its planned demonstrations against enactment of the Security Bill signed by President Uhuru Kenyatta last Friday.

He said there was no need of taking Kenyans on such a route at a time when the country is still recovering from the wounds of the 2007/2008 post-election violence.

Mr Ruto who spoke in Ziwa, Uasin Gishu County during a funds drive in aid of AIC Ziwa Township told the Opposition to save Kenyans the chaos and confusion witnessed in their political parties.

“The Opposition will achieve nothing through the continuous anarchy they take to the National Assembly and in their political parties,” he said.

But Mr Ruto explained that the ruling Jubilee administration was not against issues raised by the Opposition but instead advised them to adhere to the provisions of the Constitution.

At the same time, seven Jubilee MPs accused their counterparts in the opposition of betrayal when passing the law.

The lawmakers, while launching- Usalama Kenya Forum (UKF) – a forum to popularise the Security Laws (Amendment) Act (2014) said they had struck an agreement with their colleagues in the opposition but the Cord lawmakers turned against them on the D-Day.

“There were consultations on Wednesday and we all agreed which clauses were to be deleted but when we went to Parliament the following day, some MPs decided to politicise the whole Bill,”Machakos Town MP Victor Munyaka who belongs to Chama cha Uzalendo (CCU) told a press conference they had convened at a Nairobi Hotel to launch the forum yesterday.

Ol Kalou MP David Kiaraho asked Kenyans to ignore Cord leaders and allow the government to implement the new law to save the country from terrorism.

But in a press statement, Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow, who is a member of the Jubilee Coalition, criticised the law saying it takes away fundamental rights.