Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

 In what is morphing into a full-blown ugly confrontation, Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju yesterday accused Deputy President William Ruto of blackmailing President Uhuru Kenyatta to appoint members of his community into Cabinet.

Tuju, who painted the DP as a selfish and wealthy politician exploiting the poor through his Hustler movement, accused Ruto of taking the President hostage after supporting him in the past two elections.

Tuju claimed that Uhuru was forced to appoint Ruto’s allies to the Cabinet in order to accommodate his interests at the expense of other communities.

Ruto’s handlers were keen to project the first term of the Jubilee administration as a co-presidency with the DP’s key supporters landing plum jobs in government.

“It is an open political secret that in the first term of this Presidency, Deputy President Ruto possessed some ‘political blackmail stock options’ that he used to his great personal advantage,” said Tuju, a Cabinet minister without portfolio.

“From when the Deputy President took office in 2013, and he demanded half the Cabinet, the rain started beating us.

His proposals were too biased ethnically and it left the President with no options but to work with the remaining half to accommodate the rest of Kenya,” claimed Tuju.

Tuju spoke amidst an exchange between Ruto and Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, who last week gave a list of the huge number of police officers deployed to protect him and his vast wealth.

The revelation followed an outcry over changes in the Ruto’s security detail.

Yesterday, Tuju claimed that Ruto’s demands extended to other senior political appointments in government during Jubilee’s first term.

“The DP exhibited an amazing level of short-sightedness by failing to appreciate the fact that even Kenyans belonging to other ethnic communities that did not vote for the Uhuru Kenyatta government were at the end of the day still Kenyans who had a right to services and to opportunity to work and do business with government,” he said.

Tuju also issued a warning to DP over what he said was continued attacks against the President and his family.

“As a party, we are sending the DP a public message that we will not countenance his venturing into crossing this line. He must call all his goons to order.

We continue to resist a lot of provocation, luring us to get into the slimy and smelly social media pigsty that some of these people occupy.”

When he appeared before the House security committee last week, Matiang’i revealed that some of the properties owned by Ruto include Weston Hotel, Kitengela Gas, Dolphine Hotel, Koitalel Poultry Farm, Murumbi Farm, five helicopters and two hangars at Wilson Airport. All the properties are under police protection.

No surrender

But in response, the DP accused State officials of being used to frustrate his presidential ambitions. Ruto has also resisted calls for him to resign.

“I will not be cowed by any attempts by my opponents to frustrate my race to State House,” Ruto said in Nyeri last week.

“I want to tell all those planning to sabotage me that I am not going to retreat or surrender until I win this race and liberate hustlers of this nation.

Those behind the move should be made aware that this time round it is not about coalitions but making Wanjiku rich through good economic policies,” he added.

Yesterday, Tuju dared Ruto to, among other things, publicise the taxes he has paid to Kenya Revenue Authority, after the DP claimed he earns Sh1.5 million daily from selling eggs.

“We would like to thank the DP and congratulate him for telling us about his chicken farm that makes for him some Sh1.5 million daily.

We thank him because his generosity that adds up to millions at different churches and transport money paid to his many visitors at his Karen residence was not adding up.

“A great leader should lead from the front. We request that as a person who is also a good Bible quoting born-again Christian he will shame the devil and publicly give all Kenyans this information.

Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what belongs to Him. ~ Mark 12:17.”

Tuju further said most ‘Hustler nation citizens’ were only hoping or dreaming to own 0.2 acres while Ruto was wallowing in excess of at least 3,600 acres.

“May it please Ruto to show our young people all the skills on how to acquire such property in such a short time? He should teach us, the clueless adults.

We may not possess his supernatural powers of hard work. But teach us apart from the wheelbarrows, show us another way to perform such miracles,” said Tuju.

“We would like to congratulate Ruto for being able to make such amazing strides in business even as he was studying for his PhD concurrently with running a multi-billion-shilling empire.

He at the same time was carrying the heavy burden of working as number two in command, being involved in presidential campaigns and on his Sundays still sparing time to do many harambees from his hard-earned sweat money.”

“From our records. He has been more generous than Safaricom. Maybe he expects us to lie prostrate in awe at the great deputy leader in admiration for such prowess, the chosen one.”

Tuju also tore into DP’s statement that he made on the Arror and Kimwarer dam saga, in which he had said only Sh7 billion had disappeared.

According to Tuju, the information of the Sh7 billion Ruto obtained when he had gone to Rome Italy on private business, adding that his daughter, June Ruto, was the deputy ambassador in Rome at that time.

‘Party was dead’

Tuju was flanked by National Assembly and Senate Majority leaders Amos Kimunya (Kipipiri) and Samuel Poghisio (West Pokot), their deputies Fatuma Dullo (Isiolo) and Jimmy Angwenyi (Kitutu Chache North), Secretary of the Jubilee Coalition Joint Parliamentary Group Aden Keynan (Eldas), National Assembly Majority whip Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo) and his Deputy Maoka Maore (Igembe North) among other party officials.

But in response, Senator Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo Marakwet), Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, Millicent Omanga (Nominated) mocked Jubilee, saying the party was dead.

“Kübler-Ross constructed five stages of grief: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Tuju and company are in stage two – anger. Do not respond to them. They will get better when they reach the final stage of acceptance. They will get used to it. It is what it is,” said Murkomen.

Kuria wished the party the best in its future endeavours as its members seek new shelter ahead of the upcoming 2022 elections.

“Rest in peace, Jubilee Party. You shall never arise, even on resurrection day. Good to see your orphans looking for adopters and shelter,” said Kuria.

Omanga termed Tuju’s statement as condescending and a deliberate continuation of a campaign of propaganda, disrespect and character assassination chiselled against Ruto to torpedo his presidential bid.

“It hasn’t proven effective though, that’s why they’re growing bitter each day.”