Youth lobby denounce Uhuru-Ruto alliance

By Edwin Makiche                                    

Members of a lobby group took their campaign to the South Rift where they launched scathing attacks on the yet to be signed Uhuru-Ruto pact.

The more than 300 members at the weekend held a peaceful demonstration on the streets of Kericho town to denounce the impending political alliance.

Business in the town came to a near standstill as the youths made a procession around the town chanting “achicha wendi kityo” (he (Ruto) will go alone).

Led by the group’s national co-ordinator Jacob Rotich, the group poked holes at the alliance, saying that it was founded on quick sand and that the Kalenjin were unlikely to benefit from it.

The youth accused Eldoret North MP William Ruto of short changing the community by entering into an alliance without consulting the main stakeholders, including the elderly and the youth.

They said that while the community banked their hopes on Ruto to run for the top job, he ended up betraying the community by rushing into the alliance and accepting to be someone else’s running mate.

“We are not fronting any politician or political alliance, but all we are advocating for is a people driven alliance that brings all members of the community on board,” said Rotich.

The group launched in Eldoret last week said, so far, it had recruited over 15,000 youths in the North and South Rift. This week they would be holding street processions and town hall meetings in parts of South Rift before heading to Nandi and Baringo counties.