In a rare encounter between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, the two led separate functions yesterday in Mombasa almost simultaneously.

As the President was launching projects at Makupu Causeway, his deputy was making his way to the port city for his mega and final coastal rally at Tononoka Grounds.

Responding to the President’s claims that he has been thriving on malice and falsehoods, Ruto said he is a decent man who tells no lie.

“I have heard you, Mr President, saying that I am a liar. I want to state that I don’t lie. When I spoke in Nakuru and when I spoke in Mombasa, I spoke the truth that SGR (standard gauge railway) was meant to transform the country but this goal was diverted by individuals with self interests,” he said.

Ruto dismissed his challengers in the Azimio camp as rudderless and clueless, adding that they cannot pretend to salvage this country’s economy from State capture.

He accused his main rival, Raila Odinga, of being a beneficiary of proceeds of corruption and, therefore, cannot claim to be fit to fight the vice.

While hailing the President’s move to launch development projects across the country, Ruto reiterated that the Big Four agenda on manufacturing, healthcare, infrastructure and food security collapsed because of Uhuru’s handshake with Raila.

“That Kitendawili man came and confused you, Mr President, and then he started BBI and reggae, telling us that nobody can stop reggae. But didn’t the so-called reggae stop?” asked Ruto.

He regretted that the Jubilee administration “wasted a whole term” during which it had a good plan to turn around the economy, adding that currently the country is facing the wrath of inflation through rising cost of living and food prices.

“Five years were wasted, whether people agree or not. I want to state for the record that Kenya shall not experience another moment like what we saw in the past five years,” he said.

While laughing off at Azimio’s agenda on port operations, the Kenya Kwanza presidential flag bearer questioned how Raila plans to revert port services to Mombasa, describing him as a hostage of state capture.

“When we said we will revert port operations to Mombasa, the Kitendawili man copied the idea and said he would also do that. I want to remind him that the handshake government, which he is a party to, was responsible for taking  port functions to Naivasha. How will you return it?” You are hostage to those who took port operations away from Mombasa,” Ruto said.

Buoyed by the addition of former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko into his Kenya Kwanza team, Ruto was confident that his side has what it takes to take over Mombasa leadership.

He dismissed as fake the opinion polls projecting Raila ahead of the pack.