Francis Nyenze defends his praise of Uhuru Kenyatta

National Assembly Minority Leader and Kitui West MP Francis Nyenze of the Wiper Democratic Movement - Kenya in 2013. PHOTO | JENNIFER MUIRURI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • In a press statement, National Assembly Minority Leader Francis Nyenze dismissed his critics and stuck to his guns, saying his constituents were happy with the Jubilee-led government for jobs and financial support.
  • The Kitui West legislator said his remarks were taken out of context and that he only thanked the President out of courtesy for creating 900 jobs for young people in the constituency through the National Youth Service.

National Assembly Minority Leader Francis Nyenze on Tuesday defended his weekend praise of President Uhuru Kenyatta, which was widely taken as an endorsement for a second term in office.

In a press statement, the Kitui West legislator dismissed his critics and stuck to his guns, saying his constituents were happy with the Jubilee-led government for jobs and financial support.

Mr Nyenze said his remarks were taken out of context and that he only thanked the President out of courtesy for creating 900 jobs for young people in his constituency through the National Youth Service.

“The 900 young people, their parents and siblings were very happy to be recruited by the NYS. The thousands of women who got investment cash were equally happy,” he said in his first response to the storm that has attracted widespread condemnation from Wiper Party ranks and social media platforms.

Mr Nyenze, who is defending the Kitui West parliamentary seat on a Wiper ticket also denied he was planning to ditch the party for Jubilee.

He spoke as pressure mounted on him to quit his position and relinquish the party ticket to defend his parliamentary seat in order to appease the National Super Alliance supporters who feel betrayed by his remarks.