Nairobi, Kenya, Oct 2 – Deputy president William Ruto has said that the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitution amendment was the most fraudulent and deceitful process ever undertaken in the country.
Speaking in Nakuru on Saturday, Ruto said that the main agenda of BBI was to give the President more powers to control parliament and undermine the judiciary.
The Deputy President said that BBI proponents should stop lying to Kenyans that the initiative was meant to benefit the common Mwananchi but meant to push their selfish interests.
“How dare you tell us that you want to install an imperial president that has power to sabotage parliament through appointments, that has power to sabotage the judiciary using the ombudsman, where on earth did any Kenyan say they want an imperial president. You are telling us about all the other sweeteners in BBI, you not telling us the real truth behind the BBI project,” he said.
Ruto, who celebrated the fall of BBI after the Court of Appeal affirmed a decision of the Constitutional Court declaring the initiative null and void, made the remarks during a campaign blitz to popularize his 2022 presidential bid in meet-the-people tours that took his to three counties where he made multiple stops.
The tours mainly focused on the central region came days after tycoons from the vote-rich area hosted his chief opponent, Raila Odinga, for a luncheon during which the group led by media owner SK Macharia declared their support for his presidential bid.
The Deputy President stated that the first priority for the country was the resolution of the poor state of the economy and the employment crises in the country.
Ruto further rubbished the claims that the failure of BBI denied Kenyans the formation of new constituencies saying that the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has the power to do so.
“You do not need unconstitutional fraudulent process to have new constituencies in Kenya. Section 89 of the constitution gives power to IEBC to delineate constituencies. If genuinely you wanted extra constituencies, you should have constituted the IEBC in good time, you should have given them money to delineate constituencies, we would have new constituencies in Kenya,” he added.
The Deputy President said that their opponents are focused on increasing the presidential powers and power sharing but his party will priorities will be solving the unemployment menace in the country and empowering the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
He added that their bottom-up approach will improve the livelihoods of Kenyans who are experiencing difficulties.
“It is only through the bottom-up economic model that we can give jobs to ordinary citizens. Four million young people deserve an opportunity to work or do business. The millions of struggling enterprises deserve an opportunity to grow their businesses,” he said.
Ruto, who since being declared persona non grata at the governing Jubilee Party switched allegiance to a partner party he rebranded to United Democratic Alliance (UDA) assured aspirants that the party will give every candidate a fair chance in upcoming nominations ahead of the 2022 general elections.
“Every aspirant should know that they will get an opportunity of fairness in this party and there is nobody who will be favored. Everyone will get their chance in line with the constitution and the nominations of UDA will be open, free and democratic,” he said.
Ruto said that his party is committed to ensuring peaceful elections during the August 2022 general elections and urged Kenyans to shun tribal politics.
“We should not accept the politics of hate. Those who thought that they would trap us to bring down Jubilee, for us to lose the party to Unite Kenyans, God helped us we now have UDA which will do the same,” he said.
He stated that this time around they won’t engage in ‘guess works’ adding that they already have a well laid plan to achieve a successful victory.
“The contest is already declared. They are on one side focused on changing the constitution and we are on another side on a quest to change the economy,” he said.
The DP accused BBI and handshake proponents sabotaged the Big IV agenda, Jubilee’s socio-economic transformation plan, while promising to revive the economy as envisioned in the agenda through his bottom-up economic model.
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