Ruto rejects election Bill as he kicks off Coast tour

Deputy President William Ruto addresses wananchi in Voi Town, Taita Taveta County. [Courtesy]

Deputy President William Ruto has torn into what he described as “dark forces in government” behind a State-sponsored Bill to introduce manual transmission of the election results.

Yesterday Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza brigade including Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang’ula toured part of the Coast where they continued their onslaught against ODM leader Raila Odinga.

“Dark forces driving the ‘kitendawili’ project are behind proposed election laws that want the next polls to be held under the cloud of secrecy or darkness. We will not accept this,” said Ruto.

The DP, Mudavai and Wetangula said all MPs allied to the alliance will reject the Bill in parliament.

“Instead of campaigning for the State project, they are introducing law as part of a wider scheme to ensure its project wins. Those behind the law should know that Kenyans will not allow elections to be conducted in darkness,” said Ruto.

Ruto and his team have in the past referred to Raila as the ‘State project’ or ‘mzee wa kitendawili’. Yesterday, they did not mention him by name but appeared to be referring to him. Raila and his allies have vehemently denied the ‘State project’ tag by pointing to his years of struggle for multi-party democracy in Kenya.

The Kenya Kwanza Alliance leaders started their two-day tour of the Coast to consolidate their votes and popularise their union, barely a week after Raila’s visit to the region. Mudavadi exuded confidence that Kenya Kwanza Alliance will win the August polls in round one with 70 per cent of the votes.

Mudavadi also claimed that he defected from One Kenya Alliance (OKA) after he realised that Wiper leader, Kalonzo Musyoka, had hatched a plot to drag them to Azimio La Umoja.

“You cannot start to change the rules of the game at the eleventh hour. It is impossible. They claim that these changes were proposed at the Cabinet. The DP is not aware of those changes,” said Mudavadi.

“We want to know from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission who are the real owners of the mongrel of the new law. The good thing is that even the ODM leader has also rejected them,” he added.

Wetangula said MPs allied to the Kenya Kwanza Alliance would reject the proposed law in both parliaments as it was not good for Kenyans.  Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro claimed the proposed changes on election laws originated from the State House.

“It is retrogressive and dictatorial. Kenyans want peace and the government should withdraw it,” he said.

Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki claimed the proposed law was their opponent’s last card which they wanted to use to manipulate the election for their candidate. Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa urged the AG Kariuki Kihara to immediately withdraw the proposed amendments to the law.

The three, who toured Taita Taveta and Kilifi, said they will not allow forces to erode democratic gains made so far in a bid to “push a project down the throat of Kenyans”.

Earlier, Dr Ruto and his team met all aspirants from various political positions at Voi Wildlife Lodge where party nominations took centre stage.