Deputy President William Ruto has told President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga to accept they are responsible for the high cost of living Kenyans are grappling with.
The DP said on Friday said the two leaders should stop apportioning blame over who is responsible for the high domestic commodity prices and act accordingly by lowering the cost of basic products.
Ruto while addressing a charged rally in Busia town when he took the Kenya Kwanza campaigns to the border county said Uhuru and Raila should entirely be blamed for the grumbling economy.
He said issues to do with the high cost of living started immediately after the famous ‘Handshake’.
He said apportioning blame will not help Kenyans, particularly those from humble backgrounds.
“The people telling you lies about who is responsible for the high cost of living have never slept hungry,” the DP said.
“They are comfortable in their own setting and are busy telling you who should be blamed for the high-cost commodities.”
Uhuru is on record having said for the last four years, Kenya and the Horn of Africa Region have experienced unexpected low rainfall.
This, he said, resulted in drought, poor harvests and crop failure in some parts of the country leading to the shortage of some basic commodities occasioning a rise in the cost of living.
The situation, Uhuru said, was compounded by other preceding disasters, including a desert locust invasion in 2019, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and the disruptions in the global supply chain of food and farm inputs, following the Ukraine-Russian War.
As a result, the commander in chief said, the number of vulnerable households in Kenya increased tremendously, and the cost of basic food items rose beyond the reach of many families.
“Faced with such a challenge, the moment requires us to act swiftly and decisively to cushion the vulnerable, as we figure out sustainable means of dealing with the emerging trend,” Uhuru said.
But Ruto disagreed saying blaming drought, the locust inversion and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amount to running away from responsibility.
Ruto said it is high time Kenyans stop listening to the two leaders and support the Kenya Kwanza team ahead of the August 9 General Elections.
He said only his leadership under Kenya Kwanza will deliver Kenyans from problems bedevilling the country.
“To you the people of Busia, I am competing against people you know very well. Tomorrow they will come here and start telling you their usual stories full of parables because they have no agenda for this country,” Ruto said.
“They have no agenda and have nothing to offer this country. Their handshake is responsible for the high cost of living and they, therefore, have no business lecturing us on how best they can transform the country.”
“I want to tell them that they should start preparing to go home as we take over the government after the August 9 General Election.”
On July 8, Raila hit out at the DP for blaming him for the high cost of living in the country.
The former prime minister said it is absurd for Ruto to blame him for the rising cost of flour.
Raila flipped the blame on Ruto saying he facilitated maize importation leading to the current high flour prices in the country.
“You know they have been complaining that the cost of living is high. Ask them who brought maize from Mexico. He (Ruto) is the one who ruined the maize market here,” Raila said as he addressed Azimio La Umoja supporters in Lugari, Kakamega.
Raila, then, was responding to claims by Ruto that he (Raila) was giving Uhuru bad advice, leading to the current high cost of living.
In 2017, Raila threatened to expose those behind the importation of maize and claimed the DP was among those involved.
He said the maize importation process was fishy and wondered how it took a short period of time for the shipment to arrive in Kenya.
Ruto was accompanied in Busia by among other leaders ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi, his Ford Kenya counterpart Moses Wetangula and Starehe MP Charles Kanyi popularly known as Jaguar.
Others present included Busia gubernatorial contender John Bunyasi (ANC), former Foreign Affairs Chief Administrative Secretary Ababu Namwamba, and former Teso South MP Mary Emase.
Candidates gunning for elective posts under the Kenya Kwanza coalition in Busia County were also present at the rally held at the Busia stadium.