Promises galore as Ruto, Raila bid to strengthen union

President William Ruto with Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga at the funeral service of Mama Pheobe Asiyo in Homabay County.[Michael Mute/Standard] President William Ruto intensified his bid to entrench his support in the country on Friday, with a wave of promises to achieve the two-thirds gender rule, transform Nyanza's economy, and compensate victims of the country's political upheavals. The President rallied support for their union with ODM leader Raila Odinga and claimed they have put the country on the right path to success. Ruto unleashed a fresh bag of goodies to the Nyanza region and promised to complete various road projects. For a duo keen to pacify support across the country, the burial of the late Karachuonyo MP Phoebe Asiyo in Homa Bay County, yesterday, provided a platform to drum up support for the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report. The President stated that in honour of the late MP, his administration will ensure that they achieve the two-thirds gender rule through the implementation of the Nadco report. "My administration is going to implement the one-third gender rule, and affirmative action will be applied in certain circumstances," Ruto said. The gender rule requires that each position in the public sector is occupied by not more than two-thirds of a particular gender. Female leaders in Kenya have been complaining about gender imbalance in various job opportunities in the country. The President promised to implement the ten-point agenda, which is part of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) he signed with Raila during the formation of the broad-based government. Ruto said Kenya Kwanza and ODM MPs are going to meet next week to plan modalities of making legislation for the implementation of the agenda. "Our MPs are going to have a parliamentary group meeting to plan how they will make legislation for augmenting the implementation of the ten-point agenda," Ruto said. Ruto argued that the MoU he signed with Raila must be implemented to the letter. "Raila and I have agreed that the MoU we signed is implemented to the letter. We want to ensure proper implementation of the Nadco report, enhancing devolution and other resolutions," Ruto said. Raila rallied his support base to continue backing the President and his regime, and claimed that he has no apology for his decision to collaborate with Ruto. He defended his decision that Kenya risked plunging into anarchy, hence he had to shelve his political interests for the sake of peace and unity. Raila hit back at his critics who blame him for abdicating his roles as an opposition leader. "I don't owe anybody apology for working with President Ruto. The people who are complaining of our co-operation do not understand the history of Africa. I did not want Kenya to plunge into anarchy like Somalia, Sudan, Libya and other African countries," Raila said. Raila expressed commitment that his ODM party will work with the government until 2027. "We must work and till 2027 for the development of our country. When that time comes, we will talk again on the way forward," Raila said. He told residents to shun government critics for the sake of Kenya's development. "People need shelter, food and other basic items in order to live. But we cannot achieve this in a chaotic situation," Odinga said. ODM National Chairperson Gladys Wanga said some leaders were criticising the broad-based government because of jealousy with ODM. "They want us to leave the government so that they can replace us," Wanga said. Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said the broad-based government will unite Kenyans. "We must all work togethe to promote unity in our country," Mudavadi said. The leaders eulogized Asiyo as a leader who made significant contributions in championing rights of women. The President promised the construction of a monument in Nairobi in honour of the late Phoebe Asiyo. He also directed that Wi Kondiek Secondary School be renamed Phoebe Asiyo Secondary School.

Promises galore as Ruto, Raila bid to strengthen union

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Promises galore as Ruto, Raila bid to strengthen union

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