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Munira Mandano and Harrison Kivisu

Deputy President William Ruto and Opposition leader Raila Odinga yesterday renewed their political rivalry when they clashed over the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

While Raila insisted that the BBI process would solve the myriad problems bedeviling the country, Ruto maintained that the push to change the Constitution was not a priority.

Raila, who spoke in Chitengerwa village in Matuga constituency, Kwale County during the burial of Mzee Hassan Chitembe Bundu, hit out at leaders who opposed to the BBI process as selfish and liars.

Raila said the lies being peddled around by anti-BBI crusaders were aimed at serving their selfish interests and not the people’s.

In a veiled reference to Ruto, the ODM leader said opponents of the 2010 Constitution were the same onescurrently misleading the country lying that the BBI was proposing the creation of positions for individuals.

“We sat at the Bomas for over one year as your representatives. We held discussions and came up with a report,” he said.

“The issue of positions in the Executive is contained in the Bomas draft and was just lifted and put in the BBI recommendations, it is in black and white,” he said.

Raila scoffed at critics of the BBI process accusing them of opposing the allocation of more resources to the counties from the current 15 per cent to 35 per cent to enhance service delivery to the people adding that they only want the money to remain in Nairobi so that they can loot it.

“They are not interested in services reaching you, they want the money to be controlled in Nairobi for them to loot like they have been doing,” he said.

The ODM leader said there are many proposals in the BBI report aimed at benefiting mwananchi, “but since they know they will not have anywhere to steal from, they want to oppose it and peddle lies to you” he said and urged Kenyans to stop listening to them.

But speaking in Lunga Lunga constituency in the same county, Ruto insisted there was no need to change the constitution.

He said that the country’s priority at the moment should be to fix the economy and not to change the Constitution in order to create positions for a few individuals.

Cost of living

The DP said his competitors had “wasted” four years trying to change the Constitution in a bid to create political positions instead of coming up with strategies on how to empower low-income earners who are the majority in the country.

Ruto, who was presiding over a funds drive in the constituency, said his 2022 agenda is to assist the low-income earners through the bottom up approach to the economy.

“They have been going around the country for four years doing a process that the court has said was illegal, unconstitutional, null and void. Why are they insisting on changing the Constitution for their own interest yet the mwananchi is suffering?” Ruto asked.

He said the suffering is due to the high cost of living yet leaders were busy focusing on constitution change.

“Today the price of fuel is high, gas is expensive, when the two products are high definitely unga will be expensive, fares will be high and all this will affect the hustlers,” he said.

But Raila denied that the plan to change the Constitution was aimed at creating political positions but rather to bring development and urged Kenyans to ignore politicians peddling the narrative.

Rights champion

“Sisi tunasema tunataka kuzidisha mgao wa fedha kutoka asilimia kumi na tano ifike thelathini na tano ya pesa mashinani,manake pesa inakuja mashinani ni kidogo sana inabaki ya kulipa mishahara, katika BBI tunataka kuongeza pia constituency, hiyo ni mbaya au nzuri? (We want to increase the county allocation from the current 15 per cent to 35 percent so that more money can come to the grassroots, because the money allocated to counties is insufficient.

We also want to increase the constituencies so that we can have more representation, is that okay?”) he posed.

Raila praised the late Chitembe who died on Saturday after a long illness as a brave man who stood for the rights of the people.

“I knew him many years ago. In the struggle for political pluralism, he was at the forefront and championed the rights of the Coast people,” he said.

He eulogised Chitembe as a strong and loyal member of the ODM party saying that he will personally miss him. 

In Lunga Lunga, Ruto urged Coast residents to support his 2022 presidential bid.

“We all saw what happened last week in Kiambaa where the hustler nation got the victory and that was an indication that Mt Kenya region has accepted this narrative because it is relevant to every Kenyan in this nation,” Ruto said.