Jubilee Party on charm offensive in coast

Jubilee Party is on a charm offensive at the Coast hoping to win over the region that has been firmly held by the opposition ODM.

And its leaders seized on the loss of millions of shillings in Kilifi to accuse ODM-controlled county governments in the region.

Deputy President William Ruto is on a four-day tour of four counties which ends tomorrow by which time he would have raised millions of shillings in fundraisers for various groups.

His visit will culminate in a rally at Tononoka grounds, Mombasa, tomorrow where Jubilee’s Coast organ will officially be launched. But before that, he would have been in Kilifi, Taita-Taveta and Kwale.

The Deputy President has been addressing as many as five functions daily, ranging from fundraisers to inspecting projects, as well as donating relief food in areas affected by famine.

During the meetings, which started in the drought-stricken Ganze sub-county where he announced a Sh100 million fund from the government to stave off hunger, Mr Ruto asked residents to embrace Jubilee which was keen on development.

He criticised ODM governor Amason Kingi’s administration in Kilifi over corruption, and in particular on the loss of Sh51 million stolen from the county government’s bank account.

'FIRST USE'

“Every year, we have allocated more than Sh9 billion to Kilifi and the first use for the devolved funds is to ensure that the people of the county have water, medicine and food,’’ he said.

“The Kilifi County government must prove that it is working for the people,” the DP said and called for swift action on the culprits of the scam.

And speaking at Mwakishimba Primary School in Wundanyi, Taita-Taveta County after inspecting several projects, he said attempts by the opposition to link all projects initiated by the national government to corruption were tantamount to sabotaging development of the country.

Kilifi North MP Gideon Munga’ro, the party’s Coast pointman who is eying Mr Kingi’s seat, challenged the county boss “to come clean about the loss of money”. “There are four to five companies in Kilifi that have been used as conduits for stealing money from the public,” said Mr Mungaro.

Deputy governor Kenneth Kamto attended the functions and asked the national government for help to deal with corruption in the county.