PRESIDENT RUTO IS THE EASIEST TO IMPEACH.

A section of leaders allied to the opposition are now threatening to impeach President William Ruto, claiming he has betrayed Kenyans.

Speaking in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County, on Saturday, July 1, 2023, the leaders led by former Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugine Wamalwa and Saboti Member of Parliament Caleb Amisi said the President had become insensitive to the economic challenges bedevilling the country.

The leaders affiliated with the Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya coalition affirmed that the push to collect signatures to remove the Head of State from office is on course.

According to Amisi, Ruto is the easiest President to remove from office because he won the presidency by “luck”.

“If there is the easiest president to remove from office, it is William Ruto because he luckily won the election. When you walk around asking who voted for him, nobody can tell you. Those who voted for him are complaining about the cost of living,” Amisi told a crowd at the Kitale Municipal market.

Wamalwa, on his part, faulted President Ruto’s administration over the current high cost of living and promised that Azimio would continue to hold the government accountable for the country’s worrying inflation rate.

“We are the ones fighting for the downtrodden because the other guys from Kenya Kwanza who promised to make your lives better have made them worse,” Wamalwa said as he faulted Endebess MP Robert Pukose for voting in favour of the Finance Bill 2023.

Impeaching President Ruto, would, however, be a tall order for the opposition, because Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza side enjoys a majority in Parliament.

The Azimio coalition has been critical of the Finance Act signed into law last Monday, piling pressure on President Ruto to repeal it.

Led by Azimio leader Raila Odinga, opposition chiefs recently called on Kenyans to embrace tax boycotts as a form of political protest against the Kenya Kwanza administration.

“Ruto is testing whether we still have the will, energy, and resolve to fight the re-emergence of dictatorship. After stealing our elections last year Ruto now thinks he can steal anything and get away with it. We have to stop Ruto and we have to do it now,” Raila said at Kamukunji Grounds last Tuesday.

“Let us deny Ruto the fuel tax by limiting consumption of petrol and diesel. One way to do this is to carpool. Let us arrange to make regular journeys in a single vehicle whenever possible; give each other a ride, cut down on non-essential travel and walk instead of driving whenever possible.”

Ruto signed into law the Finance Bill 2023, doubling Value Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products to 16 per cent from 8 per cent despite a majority of Kenyans opposing the proposal due to the current state of the economy.