RAILA BRANDS DP RUTO A NEW NAME.

The onslaught against the Deputy President William Ruto by the ODM leader Raila Odinga took an interesting turn after the ODM leader sarcastically branded DP Ruto a new name while addressing a rally in Busia county.

Raila who was castigating Ruto after he promised to create a special kitty to raise funds to buy land for squatters, called DP Ruto Bwana Arap Mashamba leaving the crowd in stiches.

Raila claimed that DP Ruto has set up a new strategy to grab several lands in coastal region in the name of solving land issues.

He urged the coastal voters not to heed to his call as he claimed that Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho will solve their problems after the Azimio government ascends to power.

While campaigning in Mombasa and Kilifi counties yesterday, Dr Ruto said he had agreed with local leaders that land held by absentee landlords would be bought and subdivided to the landless. The DP also pledged compulsory acquisition of land for resettlement, should there be need.

“We will establish a special fund to buy the land from absentee landlords. But if the need arises, we will use compulsory acquisition programme to repossess the land and settle squatters in Coast. We are ready,” said Dr Ruto.

Ruto accused Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party presidential candidate Raila Odinga of perpetuating the land problems.

“What has he [Mr Odinga] done to solve that problem? In fact, it was during his tenure as prime minister that land grabbing was rampant. In our first term as Jubilee, we delivered more than 300, 000 title deeds here,” he claimed.

Dr Ruto, who started his tour of the Coast on Tuesday, ignited the debate about land after he revealed that he was gifted 2,500 acres by former Taveta MP Basil Criticos. Ownership of 2,500 acres puts him among the big landowners in the area.

Yesterday, ODM leader Raila Odinga’s allies challenged Dr Ruto to lead the way by giving out part of the huge tract of land to the squatters and the landless. Suna East MP Junet Mohammed and ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna told Dr Ruto to mind the underprivileged and landless of the Coast if he believes in his economic model.

By Kenyan report