Declare all your wealth, Raila allies tell Ruto

Allies of ODM leader Raila Odinga have challenged Deputy President William Ruto to declare all his wealth if he feels he is being targeted unfairly by those who want to block his presidential bid.

Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, his Gem counterpart Elisha Odhiambo and Anglican Bishop Prof. David Kodia defended Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangí who has been accused of exaggerating Dr Ruto’s property.  

 “Do not blame Dr Matiangí for ‘exposing’ you, if you think he lied, table all that you own in public so that people can judge whether you honestly acquired them or not,” said Dr Amollo.

He accused the DP of confusing the poor people by lying to them that he is a hustler.

“You can’t claim to be identifying yourself with the poor and that you are a hustler yet you own five helicopters and huge tracts of land,” said the Rarieda lawmaker.

The leaders also renewed their calls for Dr Ruto to resign from the government if he felt it had failed to deliver on its promises to the people.

Wealth

“When they took over power, he told us the things they were supposed to do together yet now he is divorcing himself from what was not achieved. You cannot have your cake and eat it. It is either Dr Ruto is in government he helped form, or out,” said Dr Amollo.

The leaders were speaking on Saturday at the burial of James Apollo Asewe in Chianda, Rarieda in Siaya County.

Gem MP challenged investigative agencies to investigate how the DP amassed his wealth.

He said people should be worried when an individual wants ‘hustlers’ to remain in the same position they have been over the years instead of pushing for a stable economy.

“We should be worried as a country when one who refers to himself as a hustler owns 10, 000 acres of land in Laikipia and another 2,500 acres in Voi. Distribute the land among your fellow hustlers if you mean well for them so you do not end up cheating them,” said Mr Odhiambo.

Bishop Kodia said that the DP does not have a history of employment yet he owns large tracts of land besides other property.

“Within a span of a few years, an individual accumulated billions of shillings. This is more than a miracle,” said Bishop Kodia.

Court of Appeal

The leaders also dissociated the ODM party leader from the appeal filed at the Supreme Court challenging the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) ruling which has been dealt a blow both at the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

“Mr Odinga has not appealed (BBI ruling) because while BBI was good for the people of Kenya, some people thought it was a private project for Raila. We have advised him to focus on what will take him to State House.

The Rarieda legislator said BBI is an idea that cannot die, and one that will be resurrected once Mr Odinga is elected president.

He, however, welcomed the move to the Supreme Court.

“I welcome the appeal because that decision by the Court of Appeal is dangerous for the people of this country. It makes it impossible to amend the Constitution through initiative of the people or through Parliament and that was never the intention of some of us who coined the Constitution,” said Dr Otiende.