Leaders from Western Kenya have urged Deputy President William Ruto and former Prime Minister and ODM leader Raila Odinga to tone down their political exchanges, and instead focus on more meaningful issues. Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula have faulted the exchanges between the two leaders. Moses Wetangula, who is also the Ford Kenya party leader, had days ago voiced his displeasure with the trading of insults and accusations between the two leaders, and he has once again reiterated the same.
The latest calls come even as more leaders insist DP Ruto is being targeted in the war on corruption. Speaking during a funeral in Sirisia Constituency, in Bungoma County, Wetangula said it doesn’t make sense when President Uhuru Kenyatta is preaching peace and yet Raila Odinga and DP Ruto are still trading insults and locked in a struggle, “Raila is pushing this direction, Ruto is pulling the other side, Raila attacks and Ruto attacks,” he stated.
Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka said the political tone and atmosphere needs to be stilled, “Let’s reduce the political tones, because in this country if we prioritize politics, even the (Big) Agenda Four won’t work,” he said, “So we must cut the political tone and ask ourselves what we are speaking in public when given the opportunity to speak.”
However, Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa said the Head of State, who is also the Jubilee party leader, has turned attention from serving Kenyans, “He has stopped addressing the needs of poor suffering Kenyans and he has focused on addressing the needs of the handshake between him and Raila Odinga.”