Nairobi, Kenya: Deputy President William Ruto has said that the constitutional responsibilities bestowed on the President and himself are not for doing business with corrupt cartels but for serving Kenyans to attain economic prosperity.
Saying no one will hold the government at ransom, the Deputy President made it clear that the government will deliver on all the pledges they made in the jubilee manifesto without hesitation. “We are here to serve all Kenyans not a few greedy individuals,” he said. He added, “no one and nothing will stop us from building the Railway, building roads, giving children laptops and doing irrigation among other pledges as enunciated in our manifesto
.” Ruto was speaking at the St. Monica ACK church , Dandora where he joined the congregation for a Sunday service which was also a thanks giving service for the MP for Embakasi North James Mwangi Kaguya. The Deputy President pointed out that the country will not achieve the desired double digit growth if it does not implement these projects that he said will greatly contribute to the growth of the economy.
“The noises being made regarding the Railway and the Laptops is an indication that serious work is going on in the government and they will not stop us from forging ahead with our objectives,” he added. Similar sentiments were expressed by Senator Kipchumba Murkomen who said the government cannot be held at ransom by some unscrupulous wily dealers who have set their eyes on all the government tenders being awarded and they are ready to corrupt their way to achieve their goals.
Murkomen, who is the chairman of devolution committee in the senate also cautioned governors against levying unaffordable and oppressive taxes. Senate Majority leader Kithure Kindiki warned all the cartels who have hijacked the economy of the country that the writing is on the wall and that their activities are coming to an end. He said the Kenyan leadership will not condone activities of a few wealthy people who are using their reaches to intimidate people in government to award them tenders. Said the Senator, “You can intimidate some people some time , but you cannot intimidate all the people all the time.”
On his part, the leader of majority in parliament Aden Duale charged that the corrupt cartels trying to influence the jubilee government are the same people who were involved in the Goldenberg scandal and Anglo leasing scandal and are now hell bent to start another scandal with the jubilee government if not stopped. He once again told the President and the deputy President to distance themselves from this cartels saying they risked being isolated if they embraced corrupt wealthy people.
Duale, at the same time cautioned the cartels against using the courts to achieve their goals saying Kenya now had a reformed judiciary that does not condone corruption. “We are however watching the judiciary to see which magistrate will take on the case and try to compromise with the cartels, Parliament will take action on such a judicial officer,” Duale warned.
The MP for Starehe Maina Kamanda hit out at some wealth individuals who have infiltrated the government to try and influence decision making. He challenged them to state how much money they used in funding Jubilee campaigns if any so that they can be refunded and stop bothering the country’s leadership. Handling Dandora dumpsite On the Dandora dumpsite, Ruto made an undertaking that the government will relocate the dump site from Dandora or invite an investor to put up a recycle plant in the area that will turn the garbage from the dumpsite into something of an economic value.
He expressed disappointment that the continued dumping of refuse in Dandora was a health hazard to the local residents adding that the national government will liaise with the county government of Nairobi to ensure that they remove the dangers posed by dump site in the area. The Deputy President, who was accompanied by his wife Rachael, decried the low enrolment of children in schools in Nairobi saying this could largely be attributed to the few number of schools in the city compared to the rising population.
Noting that 35% of children in the city do not go to school, Ruto asked Nairobi Members of Parliament to use the Constituency Development Funds (CDF) to build more schools in the city to increase school’s enrolment. “A society that does not invest in the future of children will have serious challenges in future,” he added.
-standardmedia.co.ke
