Stop using our failures for your gain, Raila told

AfricaPress-Kenya: Deputy President William Ruto has hit out at ODM leader Raila Odinga for using Jubilee administration’s unfulfilled pledges as an excuse to push his agenda of passing the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.

Ruto was speaking during a rally at Burma Market in Nairobi yesterday where he had lunch before addressing the crowd.

The DP urged the traders to reject the new proposals and told Raila to stop using what Jubilee was yet to do as an excuse for wooing people to support BBI.

He said he failed to understand how Raila was brave enough to publicly attack the same government that he decided to work with.

“So when did he (Raila) realise that the stadiums have not been built, or that the one million jobs have not materialised? Let him stop all this propaganda,” Ruto said.

He further asked the former prime minister to abandon the handshake if he was unsure of his decision, saying the Jubilee government was “functioning well until Raila entered the fray with the BBI…all our plans have since been shelved,” said Ruto.

Raila has been using Jubilee’s failures in his rallies to drum up support for the BBI.

Some of the projects Raila has been citing are the laptops for learners, one million jobs for the youth, and stadiums which were to be built in each county.

Ruto also faulted Raila for claiming the youth would reap big if the report sailed through, arguing that what was in the BBI document was already in place and only needed to be implemented.

The DP referred to the youth fund seeking to offer interest-free loans to the youth, arguing that the country already has a similar programme.

Some of the things outlined in the BBI for the youth include the seven years tax holiday for business start-ups. Graduates will also have four years before repaying loans extended by the Higher Education Loans Board if they are yet to secure employment.