Deputy President William Ruto has cautioned politicians to stop linking him with every corruption scandal saying the trend would not abet fight against the vice. The DP accused Opposition leaders of politicising the war against graft by falsely implicating personalities as part of their agenda to remain relevant in the country’s political scene.
Speaking during the Pastoralists Leadership Summit in Garissa on Friday, March 1, Ruto said it was time for his opponents to confront the dragon of corruption without dragging his name into every scandal. The DP raised concern that he had been turned into the target of every corruption deal and warned politicians against using his name to perpetrate their falsehoods.
“They should stop using my name to create false information which all narrows down to petty 2022 succession politics. Every corruption deal is not about William Ruto and a few personalities,” he quipped.
In remarks aimed at Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who had accused him of impeding war against graft, the deputy president reiterated his position on the KSh 21 billion Kimwarer and Arror dams scandal saying only KSh 7 billion had been lost. He argued that the war on corruption would not be won through exaggeration of figures, which he attributed to the Opposition leader.
“Corruption is not about me, personalities or “mandazinomics”. We are looking at a project which will improve livelihoods of over 100,000 Kenyans,” Ruto stated. He said the government was committed to the war against graft but emphasised the battle would not be won through falsehoods, half truths and exaggeration of figures but through truth and soild evidence in court.