Ruto Claims Uhuru, Raila Funding Protests With Stolen Money

President William Ruto on Thursday, July 13 claimed that former President Uhuru Kenyatta was funding the anti-government protests using money stolen from his own government.

Speaking during a roadside rally in Tharaka Nithi, Ruto in the company of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and local leaders, blamed his former boss for bankrolling the mass protests that Azimio claims are meant to force the Kenya Kwanza government to heed to their demands by any means necessary.

Ruto's remarks targeting the former Head of State marked the first time the President is linking his former Jubilee government partner to the protests which on Wednesday, July 12 turned violent and led to loss of lives.

"Naambia hawa handshake brothers, nyinyi mnapanga, mnatumia pesa mulizoiba kupiganisha Kenya mkinunua vijana walete fujo na maafa kwa sababu hamtaki tuendelee kama wakenya (The handshake brothers are using the money they stole to buy youths to cause chaos and deaths because they don't want Kenya to progress)," he claimed.

Ruto attributed Uhuru and Azimio leader, Raila Odinga, to the current economic hardships Kenyans are encountering, ranging from the failed Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) to the handshake itself in 2018.

As a result, the President vowed not to hesitate in going after Raila and his financiers for compounding more woes on Kenyans.

"I assure you that we can not accept anarchy in Kenya. I want to assure Kenyans that we will not allow the Handshake brothers to hold our country, hostage, by causing violence and bringing chaos so that they can stop us from educating our children, planning youth employment and supporting our farmers to produce food so that we can get rid of the shame of hunger.

"They will not succeed. We will go hard on them,” said Ruto.

Ruto further questioned how staging protests week in and week out was going to lower the cost of commodities like maize flour, accusing the former Prime Minister of refusing to move on from his loss in the 2022 August elections.

"This man (Raila) is chaotic, he has refused to accept defeat and he is now causing destruction and sabotaging the economy," Ruto added.

He further argued that his move to increase taxes was the only way of rescuing the country from the debt hole created by the previous government.

"So much money was borrowed but we do not know how it was spent, we have taken loans from almost every country. Are we supposed to borrow more or collect enough taxes to be self-sufficient?" Ruto posed.

Several times have Ruto's allies accused Uhuru of being behind Raila's push to arm-twist Ruto into surrendering to his demands, but this was the first time the Head of State was making them out in the open.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on his part accused Uhuru and Raila of contracting goons to cause chaos as a means of forcing themselves into the current government.

“This plan of hiring youths to cause chaos is by Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga to force President Ruto to bring them into the government,” said Gachagua.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki earlier stated that the government does not fear going after Raila after the chaos that occurred on Wednesday.