'Leave them to me': Ruto renews attack on Kenyatta
Kenya's president told a church service that he will deal with those he says are paying for his opponents, as the 2027 election draws nearer.
Nairobi — President William Ruto has renewed his attack on his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, telling a church congregation that he will personally deal with those he accuses of bankrolling his political rivals, Capital FM reports.
Speaking in Likuyani, in western Kenya, Mr Ruto said unnamed opponents were using proxies to undermine his government. He told his audience to leave the sponsor and his people to him.
He has previously accused Mr Kenyatta of financing the Nairobi senator, Edwin Sifuna, and other opposition figures who intend to challenge his bid for re-election in 2027. In August he dared the former president to pay for those politicians himself, saying they were living off ordinary Kenyans.
The argument he is making
Mr Ruto presented the hostility towards him as a reaction to fairness. People who were used to planning inequality, he said, were angry because he had insisted that money and development reach every part of the country. His opponents, he added, had nothing new to say.
He pointed to affordable housing and road building in Nairobi as examples of what his government was doing, and told the congregation that money had already been set aside to build and equip a county aggregation centre in Likuyani for farmers.
He also said the 2027 vote would bring Kenyans together to put an end to tribalism, hatred and discrimination.
Why it matters
The general election is due next year, and the exchange shows how much of the campaign is already being fought between the president and the man he once served as deputy. Mr Kenyatta was not reported to have responded.
This report is based on reporting by Capital FM, via AllAfrica.
