Jubilee party calls out DP Ruto over his UK tour budget
The Jubilee Party has chastised Deputy President William Ruto for pushing him to leave office rather than complain from within the government or resign and lead his opposition team.
In a statement late last week, Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni accused the second in command of taking advantage of the plight of Kenyans to gain political mileage.
“Ruto is taking advantage of the plight of Kenyans to earn political mileage while posing as a “messiah”.
Ruto should make a choice, to be an ordinary citizen who holds no office or to be a second in command, paid by the taxpayers to address the challenges facing the country,” Kioni said.
Kioni further claimed that even as the DP complains about the wage bill, he has in the recent past spent Sh200 million during his UK and US tours.
“It is not lost to Kenyans that the Deputy President uses not less than Sh50 million every weekend in transport logistics for his campaigns and security, which is already an extra tax burden carried by the taxpayer.
During his recent trip abroad, to the US and the UK, Ruto’s 131-man cheering squad spent a whooping Sh200 million in logistics, flights, accommodation and allowances.
This is enough to provide an emergency food intervention programme in drought-stricken counties,” he said.
The current state of affairs in Kenya, according to Ruto, is the result of state capture, in which cartels and inept public employees have collaborated to steal from Kenyans.
DP said Kenyans are now waiting for action from the National Treasury, Agriculture and Petroleum ministries in a press conference earlier on yesterday.
This comes amid claims by the Deputy President that the Sh39 billion Petroleum Development Fund that is meant for the fuel subsidy programme was being diverted to other uses hence the fuel crisis.
The assent of the bill is aimed at resolving the current fuel shortage which has been linked to product hoarding by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) as they push for the payment of arrears from the fuel subsidy.
The party further stated that it is hypocritical for Ruto to be on the government house’s stairwell, enjoying official security and staffing, only to trash the government he is supposed to serve.
“Ruto has two clear choices, occupy his dusty house at Harambee House and help the President dispense his mandate to the people of Kenya as he constitutionally should, or resign from his position and lead the opposition atop his tax-funded top of the range Land Cruiser,” Kioni further stated.
