Written by
Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto, said that the 2022 presidential race has been framed between him as the Hustler of the Nation, and the ‘project of the system’ referring to the opposition leader of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Raila Odinga as the government project.
This week Ruto expressed displeasure at President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to back Raila for the presidency instead of him, vowing to defeat Raila just like he was defeated by Jubilee in the last two general elections, Star reported.
Kenyans power
Ruto believes that Kenyans will make a decision between him who intends to empower the poor and Raila who will give power to a few individuals.
“It will pit the promoters of the Bottom-Up Economic Development Model that seeks to create jobs and expand enterprises against the believers of the trickle-down plan of the handout mentality, Ruto stressed.
Background
When President Uhuru and Ruto joined forces, they had an unwritten 20-year prenuptial agreement, in which Ruto would back Mr Kenyatta to serve as president for two terms. After that Mr Kenyatta would reciprocate by supporting his deputy to win the presidency in the 2022 election and he too would serve for two terms.
President Kenyatta’s relationship with his deputy and his successor Ruto took a turn, when Jubilee entered a pact with ODM opposition leader Raila. On 19 March 2018, Kenya’s president Kenyatta and Raila Odinga shook hands in a symbolic gesture popularised as the “handshake,” that ended months of tensions following the disputed election in 2017 that gave Kenyatta a second term. Unfortunately the agreement has caused major rifts within the ruling party since it ushered in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
Today, the strain between the two Kenyan top leaders is displayed openly, with Ruto working hard to be the next Kenyan president and Uhuru pushing for Odinga to succeed him.
The Project of the System
It is now in the open that Kenyan President Uhuru is pushing for Raila as his successor when he retires in 2022. This followed Uhuru pressuring One Kenya Alliance (OKA) principals to drop their ambitions and support Odinga for the presidency in the upcoming 2022 general elections during a meeting he held in August 2021 at the State House in Mombasa.
Ambitions
Kenyan DP Ruto insists that he is dedicated to changing Kenya’s politics from that of hate, division and ethnicity to one that unites and transforms the country.
He assured that the Hustler of the Nation will blend the now abandoned Big Four agenda and the ‘revolutionary’ Bottom-Up Economic Development Plan to change Kenya for the better.
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