Roots Party leader George Wajackoyah has said he will
challenge President William Ruto for the presidency in the 2027 General
Election.
Wajackoyah, who finished fourth in the 2022 polls with
61,969 votes, said he’s bitter that Ruto left out presidential aspirants who
challenged him in the polls when constituting the broad-based government.
"That is why I have come here to announce officially
that I’m on the ballot 2027 and I won’t withdraw. I’m running again because I’m
bitter. Ruto would have done it better if he had sat with us in the beginning
and asked how can we fix these issues,” he said.
Speaking in an interview on K24 on Tuesday, Wajackoyah criticised the broad-based government saying it constitutes faces that care less about those who agitated for change on the streets during the anti-government protests.
He said President William Ruto incorporated some individuals into the government merely as a stopgap measure to restore stability and as such, the appointees care less about the welfare of the protesters.
He said President William Ruto incorporated some individuals into the government merely as a stopgap measure to restore stability and as such, the appointees care less about the welfare of the protesters.
"That’s what Roots Party is opposed to. I was approached with an offer for a ministerial position but I declined. If you take me today as CS then Parliament rejects me during vetting, will I have gone through?” he posed.
Wajackoyah criticised the brute manner in which the Kenya
Kwanza government responded to the Gen Z-led protests that informed the
formation of the broad-based government.
He condemned the arbitrary arrest and abduction of the
youth, which the government has consistently denied involvement, and called for
accountability of the side of the government for the lives that were lost
during the protests.
"I’m
myself a Gen Z of 65 years. I'm telling the government that the arrest and abduction
of the youth witnessed in the country is very wrong.”
Wajackoyah
called on the international community to institute stern action against those
found culpable either through action or inaction regarding what happened to the
Gen Z during the protests.
This,
he said, should be by way of travel bans and freezing of accounts of anyone who
will be found to have been involved in any form of excesses against the Gen Z.
"I'm asking Trump and I’m asking the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, plus EU leadership and Australia to look at their embassies here and ask them what they are doing when our children are being kidnapped everyday."
Regarding his presidential ambition, Wajackoyah said he will still vie in 2027 on the manifesto of legalisation of bhang arguing that marijuana is a holy plant documented in the scriptures.
He said he will be banking on the support of the Church, claiming the burning bush through which God spoke to Moses was marijuana.
"Go to the book of Genessis 1:29, God Himself said this is my holy plant...God appeared in the form of fire and smoke. Have you ever asked yourselves what that smoke was?
"We need research to be done; that was hemp for purification purposes," Wajackoyah said.
