Ruto says Odinga out of touch with problems facing Kenyans

Deputy President William Ruto has said that Azimio Presidential candidate Raila Odinga cannot lower the cost of living even if he was to ascend to power because “he does not understand problems facing the common man.”

Ruto said Odinga “has never slept hungry” and expecting him to address challenges facing the poor would be demanding too much from him.

He said only his government can be trusted to lower the cost of living because Kenya Kwanza leadership understands the problems facing Kenyans at a personal level.

Ruto who spoke in Kirinyaga during a campaign rally at Kianyaga town in Gichugu constituency and at Kamucege in Mwea, blamed the skyrocketing cost of living on handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga.

“The biggest problem that we have in Kenya is that Odinga and his colleagues have never slept hungry and therefore they don’t know what that means,” he added.

He said Kenya Kwanza has a marshal plan on how to turn around the economy by pumping in investment funds into the textile, leather and wood industry, value addition, Agro-processing and housing.

“It’s not enough to have a plan, we are saying we need a master plan and in Kenya Kwanza, we have a marshal plan that will create employment of our 5 million youths who have graduated and have no jobs,” added Ruto.

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate asked Kenyans to come out in large numbers to give him a first-round win against Odinga.

He asked Odinga to prepare for a humiliating defeat on August 9, saying he cannot run away from blame on the problems currently facing the nation.

Ruto accused Odinga of denying Kenyans the right to know the agenda he has for development by failing to attend the Presidential Debate that was televised across the nation on Tuesday.

He said Odinga had deliberately failed to honour the invite for the debate because “he has no agenda for the people and was just moving around selling empty rhetoric.”

“Odinga has no plan for the country and this is why he ran away from the debate,” Ruto claimed.

Ruto further asked Azimio leadership to allow the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to execute its mandate without threats, intimidation and blackmail, saying the opponents had sensed defeat.

His running mate Rigathi Gachagua asked Mt. Kenya people to rally behind Ruto because this is where their interests would be safeguarded.

Gachagua claimed that Azimio Presidential running mate Martha Karua had been “handpicked by Uhuru so as to protect the interests of Kenyatta family” and not those of the people from the region.

Governor Anne Waiguru said increased cost of living was chocking Kenyans and the August 9 presents them with a chance to get economic freedom.

Waiguru exuded confidence that UDA would bag all elective seats in the county and asked voters to rise up early to send Odinga and Karua home.

“Enough is enough, freedom is coming. We are tired because of the high prices of fuel, maize flour, cooking oil and other essential commodities. Its time to reclaim our freedom,” she added.

Others who addressed the rallies included; Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro and Gichugu MP Gichimu Githinji.