Ruto Responds to Raila on US Ambassador Remarks: Who Is Rogue Between The Two?
President William Ruto has publicly supported United States Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, following a threat from Opposition leader Raila Odinga due to her comments regarding the 2022 General Election.
On Friday, during the graduation event for Official 2Jiajiri/GIZ in Kasarani, President Ruto strongly criticized the Party Leader of Azimio One Kenya Coalition. He accused them of promoting protests and making irresponsible comments about the U.S. ambassador.
Ruto restated the fact that Kenya’s biggest export market at present is the U.S. He also mentioned that spreading harmful remarks about the Ambassador is akin to harming the nation’s economy and a sign of ingratitude.
“We cannot in this time and age, it will be a tragedy of monumental proportions if, at this time and age, we want to glorify demonstrations that are violent, destroy property and sabotage our economy; we would be very reckless people,” he said.
“It would be very ungrateful for us to vilify the people who are creating opportunities for us; we have Ksh.200 billion investment from the American government and huge investments from Germany and other countries. We must secure those interests…we must not be petty or looking at personal things.”
During his speech at the Devolution Conference on Thursday, Odinga criticized Whitman by labeling him as a ‘rebel’ for asserting that the 2022 General Election was the most trustworthy in the nation’s past.
In response, the president supported the diplomat’s position, affirming that her statements were entirely accurate.
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“In any case, the American Ambassador said two statements of facts; she said the last election was the freest and fairest in the history of Kenya and Kenya is open for business, which are statements of fact. Let us have some decorum and respect ourselves as we demand respect from others,” Ruto stated.
The Head of State went ahead to mockingly compare the Azimio team leading protests to the U.S creating investments saying: “I was just imagining…between the people who are orchestrating the destruction of property and sabotaging our economy and those who are working with us to create investments, who between the two is actually rogue?”
President Ruto states that the United States brings in more than Ksh.220 billion worth of investments to Kenya annually, playing a crucial role in generating employment opportunities and fostering economic growth.
“America is our largest export market and we are working to make it even better; how we can access our leather products, textile, and other products in the American markets because we want to build a market for you when you grow your business, you have a market to export your produce,” he noted.
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“In the last year, with the American government alone, we have created investments whether it is Moderna, which is going to invest almost Ksh.70 billion, or others in the technology space which are going to give us almost Ksh.200 billion investments.”
On Thursday, Odinga strongly criticized Ambassador Whitman, suggesting that she was interfering in matters concerning Kenya. He also warned that if she keeps making remarks about Kenyan matters, the opposing political group might feel compelled to request the US government to bring her back home.
Odinga also justified the recent series of demonstrations by stating that they had the intention of bringing the nation together and pressuring the government to engage in discussions.
“I want to tell the rogue ambassador, leave Kenyans alone. If maandamano can lead to dialogue between Ichung’wah and Kalonzo, everything is good with maandamano,” Odinga stated.
Ruto Responds to Raila on US Ambassador Remarks: Who Is Rogue Between The Two?