RUTO EXPLAINS WHY NO ONE WILL STEAL HER VOTES

Deputy President William Ruto has dismissed talk that his victory could be stolen by the “deep state” in the August 2022 presidential contest.

The DP said assertions that his supporters will cast their votes but the counting and declaration of results done by the faceless deep state are farfetched.

He termed it a narrative being spread by “perennial losers”.

Ruto brushed off the existence of the “deep state”, sometimes referred to as the “system”, saying it’s a fallacy being pushed to scare voters.

“I hear those associated with our competitors peddling propaganda that the hustlers will win, but the system and the deep state will steal our votes,” Ruto said.

“Listen to me, no one will steal our votes. It is not possible to steal them anyway in the first place,” he said.

He went on, “The stories you hear some people running around with that their votes were stolen are just but excuses.”

“Somebody has been going around saying he won 2007, 2013, 2017 those are just fake stories. Nonsense. There is nothing like that.”

Ruto spoke in reference to Raila who has claimed that his victory has been stolen in the last three polls.

Ironically, the DP was part of the ODM 2007 pentagon who bitterly protested Raila’s alleged stolen victory.

He was among the top ODM luminaries who clashed with then Party of National Unity mandarins in the glare of cameras over the election fiasco.

In September during an interview on Citizen TV, Nyandarua Governor and former secretary to Cabinet and Head of Public Service Francis Kimemia confirmed the existence of “deep state”.

“All I can say is that deep state works. The voters vote, deep State also includes people in the villages. It goes up to the polling station and it doesn’t necessarily mean rigging,” Kimemia said.

He said, “The state exists, but I can assure you it could be deeper than deep. If you have two candidates at the rate of 50:50 and the deep state backs one, you can be sure that one will win.”

“This country has a lot of interest from the international community and that influences election a lot. If they combine with the deep state, you can be sure your goose is cooked.”

However, Ruto now says Raila has been invoking the role of deep state and system as a lame excuse instead of telling his supporters the truth.

“When somebody has lost in an election, he starts looking for scapegoats like claiming it is because of system [or] deep state,” he said.

Ruto spoke on Thursday last week during a fundraiser at his Weston Hotel in aid of a university being constructed in Garissa.

The DP said while he was in Kisii county last week, one of his supporters approached him and told him that they will vote for him but expressed fears that the votes could be stolen and a different candidate declared the winner.

A confident Ruto said even if his competitor was a close relative of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati, he would still be confident to face off with him.

For the last few months, Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance has complained to IEBC twice over the involvement of cabinet secretaries in Raila’s campaigns.

Three weeks ago, the UDA fired another letter to IEBC, questioning Chief Justice Martha Koome’s involvement in the multiagency team on electoral preparedness.

In his Thursday speech, Ruto also accused Uhuru and Raila of diving the country along tribal lines while preaching national unity by sponsoring regional parties

“There is a grand scheme being pushed to balkanise the country into tribal enclaves with tribal parties,” Ruto said.

“Everybody is being told go and form your party at a corner another in that corner and the same people dividing the people are the same talking to us about unity.” he said.

By The Star Kenya