DP Ruto takes a swipe at Jubilee leaders who opposed Mariga in Kibra
Deputy president William Ruto has turned his gun on leaders from his own Jubilee leaders who did not support McDonald Mariga, the party candidate who lost in the just concluded by-election in Kibra constituency.
Taking to his twitter account, Ruto said the outcome of the Kibra mini poll has shamed those Jubilee leaders who betrayed the party by supporting the ODM candidate Benard Imran Okoth instead of their own aspirant.
The DP added that his team had doubled the ruling party’s presence in Raila Odinga’s Kibra “bedroom”, a ‘territory otherwise considered no-go.’
“We have demonstrated unprecedented resolve in the face of many odds to proudly double our % presence in territory otherwise considered no-go & shaming those who betrayed our leader & party,” said Ruto.
He also thanked all those who supported Mariga and stood firm with the Jubilee candidate.
“Thank you all our leaders and members for standing firm with Mariga our JUBILEE candidate” he added.
Thank you all our leaders and members for standing firm with Mariga our JUBILEE candidate. We have demonstrated unprecedented resolve in the face of many odds to proudly double our % presence in territory otherwise considered no-go & shaming those who betrayed our leader & party.
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) November 8, 2019
During the campaign period for Kibra parliamentary seat, which lasted about two months, leaders affiliated to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party openly supported ODM candidate Imran, who emerged the victor.
Among notable Jubilee leaders who openly backed Imran were Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, MPs Maina Kamanda (nominated) and Moses Kuria (Gatundu South) and Youth and Gender Affairs Chief Administrative Secretary Rachel Shebesh.
In his earlier tweet, Ruto had congratulated the new Kibra MP-elect who was officially declared the winner by IEBC on Friday morning.
Pongezi Benard Okoth for Kibra. Congrats Mariga, Team Jubilee & supporters for daring the so called 'bedroom', braving the chaos/violence, to double our vote from 12%(2017) to 26% now. Our competitors came down 78% (2017) to 52%. They retained the seat we have served notice.
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) November 8, 2019