President William Ruto’s close aide, Farouk Kibet, has criticized former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over what he termed as a history of tribal politics.
Speaking in Kamagut on Friday, March 7, Kibet lauded Ruto and Raila Odinga for prioritizing Kenya’s progress by agreeing to work together.
He took a swipe at Gachagua, accusing him of being preoccupied with tribalism during his tenure as Deputy President.
“We have today seen the President and Raila agree to move the country forward, and I want to commend them because they have decided to prioritize Kenya.
"We have some leaders who you cannot work with even if you wanted to because of tribalism. Someone was in office as a Deputy President, but he was always focused on tribalism," he said.
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At the same time, Kibet called on religious leaders to call out tribalism the same way they have been speaking out against corruption.
"And I also want to ask the Bishops that the same way the church is speaking against corruption, I also ask them to speak against tribalism," he added.
Ruto and Raila signed a framework agreement at an event in KICC, Nairobi on Friday and agreed on a number of key issues including the full implementation of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO)Report.
The two leaders also agreed on the inclusivity of all Kenyans regardless of ethnicity, religion, and geographic location.
“Kenya belongs to all persons regardless of their ethnicity, religion or geographic location, all Kenyans are equal and all entitled to an equitable budgetary resource allocation and public appointments,” the MoU stated.
They further agreed to promote and protect the livelihoods of young people by ensuring the government makes massive investments in all high-potential sectors of the economy.
At the same time, Ruto and Raila agreed that the expression of opulence and rudeness by public officers must come to an end.
“Kenya belongs to all persons regardless of their ethnicity, religion or geographic location, all Kenyans are equal and all entitled to an equitable budgetary resource allocation and public appointments,” the MoU added.
Further, they agreed on the right to peaceful assembly and protest and compensation for all pending claims of abuse of rights
They noted that efforts to uphold the right to assembly must now involve not just the taking of responsibilities by officers who break the law but also compensation of the victims.
On the national debt, Raila and Ruto agreed that an urgent audit must be conducted of how much has been borrowed in the past and how it has been used.
“Going forward we must stop the ballooning of the national debt and ensure accountability for future borrowing,” the MoU further added.
