ODM warns over President Uhuru Kenyatta's utterances

NAIROBI: The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has accused President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto of escalating animosity through their utterances.

Party chairman John Mbadi said consequences of the two leader's actions may be grim if not checked now, even as the party accuses State agencies of turning a blind eye to what the two leaders are doing wrong.
"The public utterances, the body language and the display of raw anger by President Uhuru Kenyatta over the past few weeks have left many Kenyans baffled and disgusted at the new low the President has hit and the dangerous direction he seems to be taking the country," said Mbadi in the statement.

Mbadi also pointed out that the President and his deputy seem to be playing the same tune going by their utterances.

The statement noted, "In this, the President finally joined his deputy Mr. William Ruto, who for four years has been behaving like a jilted lover, throwing insults and spewing venom at everyone who holds a different opinion from his."

The party also stated that it takes issue with the fact that Opposition leader Raila Odinga has been the target of these outbursts. Also targeted, the statement reads, are leaders strongly supportive of Raila.

Mbadi stated, "It does not matter that much of the insults Mr. Ruto has been throwing around are plain lies, cheap propaganda and uneducated and ill-founded misinformation."

• .

  Keep Reading

• 
  Uhuru and Raila skip Ogolla burial in Siaya
• 
  Let's de-link party leadership from Executive, Parliament
• 
  Firm linked to fake fertiliser calls for arrest of Linturi, NCPB boss
• 
  Raila warns leaders against playing dirty politics in ODM polls

The other issue being raised by ODM is that the president and his deputy' language have resorted to "darker, violent, threatening, demeaning to themselves and opponents."

"Uhuru and Ruto have called Mr. Odinga all sorts of names that should ordinarily be unprintable, words that should never emerge from a president or deputy president or any leader for that matter," read the statement.

"Yet such language has become the stock-in-trade of the President and his deputy. The language of Me, Myself and I, which President Uhuru and Deputy Ruto are resorting to is sending the dark message of "we are in power, what will you do?" It is the language of impunity that is sure to lead to doom for the country," pointed Mbadi.

The party warns that if Uhuru and Ruto cannot change their language and tone to embody demeanour and dignity then they are likely to stoke ethnic embers.

"The choice of words by the President and his deputy Ruto, coupled with their very clear attempts to weep up ethnic emotions and hate targeting Mr. Raila Odinga defies everything we have come to expect of leaders and sets a worrying tone and trend ahead of the elections next August," goes the statement.

Mbadi argues that the last time such language was heard was before the disastrous 2007 elections that culminated into deadly clashes.

ODM has also accused State agencies of turning a blind eye to this trend stating, "None of the agencies that have been quick to issue warnings to Opposition leaders have lifted a finger against Uhuru and Ruto. A message is being sent that it is fine to throw insults and engage in hate speech as long as the target is Mr. Odinga and the Opposition."

Mbadi argues that the message being sent by the leaders is that it is okay to lord over competitors as long as one is the president is wrong and laced with impunity.

"The message Kenyans are getting is that in the lead up to 2017, those who are opposed to Uhuru and Ruto are on their own. It is a very dangerous message because the Opposition leaders being insulted and their supporters will somehow look for ways to defend their beliefs, their political choices, their dignity and their candidates," stated Mbadi.