Uhuru criticises Raila over Itare water project

President Uhuru Kenyatta has criticised ODM leader Raila Odinga over his opposition to the multi-million-shilling Itare Dam Water Supply Project in Nakuru and said that it will go on as planned despite attempts to stop it.

Speaking against the backdrop of controversy that has dogged the Sh38 billion mega project located in Ndoinet forest in Kuresoi North since its inception last year, the President gave it a clean bill of health.

Mr Kenyatta, who was on a voter registration tour of the county on Saturday, declared the August 8 General Election a war of votes, appealing to residents to vote him in one last time.

“We are getting votes because we are going to war,” the President said.

“But as Jubilee, we don’t believe in the war of the spear; we don’t believe in the war of throwing stones; we don’t believe in the war of bloodshed. We believe in the war that will be won by votes that we shall have in our pockets. That is what will win for us,” he said.

“I am asking you for my last vote this year,” Mr Kenyatta said.

The President said in Nakuru town where thousands of residents had gathered to listen to him: “I ask you respectfully, help us, vote for us so that we can go back”.

He asked voters to support him by ensuring he secures his second term in August before his retirement in 2022.

But he pleaded with Nakuru residents to conduct themselves peacefully to avoid a repeat of the controversial 2007 election. The President recalled that Nakuru had borne the brunt of the 2007-2008 post-election violence and previous tribal political violence.

The President accused the Cord co-principal of inciting South Rift residents against the construction of the Itare Dam with arguments that it was meant to benefit those living in Nakuru.

“Nakuru is a cosmopolitan town and this water will not benefit one community but all the communities which reside in the town,” he said amid cheers.

He further accused Mr Odinga of inciting residents of Murang’a to reject another water project that is meant to supply water to Nairobi city.

The project has started in earnest despite stiff opposition from Mr Odinga, who has vowed to halt it if he is elected President on August 8, and some residents.