I’m ahead of Raila by 8% in ‘real’ intelligence survey, Ruto claims
By Francis Muli, June 2, 2022Deputy President William Ruto now claims he is ahead of Azimio Presidential candidate by 8 points in the latest intelligence reports.
Speaking on Thursday, June 2, 2022, Ruto claimed that his competitors have been spreading propaganda that he is trailing Raila according to fake reports purportedly from the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
“I am the deputy president of Kenya. After the intelligence report is handed to the president, it is handed to me next before those other juniors. I want to tell the people of Kenya to treat with contempt the propaganda being propagated by some of our staff that there is any intelligence report that says our competitors are ahead of us,” Ruto said.
“In fact, the intelligence report that our NSIS (sic) has released is that Kenya Kwanza is ahead by 8 percentage points against our competitors. And I want to challenge the public officials, if they are serious about what they are saying, let them publish the report they are talking about.”
Ruto vs Mucheru
This comes a couple of days after ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru claimed that Raila will win the August 9 polls in round one.
Speaking on a vernacular TV station on Sunday, Mucheru said there will be no runoff based on opinion polls and what people are saying.
“All indicators are that he will take it in round One. The data we have, the opinion polls available and many other factors point to that reality. That’s my personal view as Mucheru and not the government. I think that is why these people are panicking,” he said.
The same sentiments were echoed by Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, who indicated that Raila will win the presidential contest with over 60 percent of the total votes cast.
“We don’t speak from emotions; we speak from facts. So if you asked me what the data is saying today and because you are entitled to my answer as a public servant, I would give you as it is. The intelligence data says it is 60% in the first round,” Kibicho said.
“If you think that the data I have given you is misleading, tell me what data you have and from where that says otherwise. I think you cannot criminalise someone for giving you the information you asked for,” Kibicho added.
Kibicho accused the DP and his Kenya Kwanza brigade of photoshopping images to sho a bigger crowd in his rallies, contrary to the reality.
“There are people who will make noise and do photoshopping. For example, I saw a photo of my town, Kagio, with one road that cannot accommodate three vehicles with a crowd of 2km wide. But in Kagio, a road can only accommodate two vehicles,” Kibicho told a local TV station.
Ruto has been at loggerheads with a section of Cabinet Secretaries, Permanent Secretaries and other senior government officials whom he has accused of taking political sides by supporting Raila.
Nanok
In a statement last month by Director-General of Ruto’s campaign team Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok, Kenya Kwanza accused Mucheru of siding with Raila and the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Alliance.
“We also call out the same cabinet secretary and his colleagues for their open, flagrant and shameless association and promotion of one political coalition and its presidential candidate. Of particular concern is the emergence of an outrageous video clip of ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru pledging his allegiance, committing public resources and institutions and declaring state support for the Azimo la Umoja,” Nanok said.
In response, Mucheru said that he is working to ensure that the August polls are free and fair.
“Some of us are there to ensure we have free fair elections making sure systems and everything are working and obviously we are working closely with Baba to ensure that this is the case and we’ve been looking and seeing the information we are on the right track we are on the right path,” Mucheru said.