Deputy President William Ruto on Sunday, January 12, accused the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of taking over the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) process as part of their plan for the 2022 General Elections.
Ruto claimed that the Raila Odinga-led party hijacked the BBI process to help them craft a political line-up for the 2022 polls, further calling for focus to be shifted to President Uhuru Kenyatta's 'Big 4' development agenda.
"We accept that BBI/handshake has been hijacked to craft ODM's 2022 political line up. Unity/inclusivity pretence & associated squander of public resources should stop.
"Unity? The opposition (NASA) is already dismembered/dead; now dividing Jubilee. Big 4 roll out only way to go," Ruto wrote on Twitter.
Ruto's onslaught on ODM came two days after the first of several planned BBI consultative meetings was held in Kisii County.
The event held at Gusii Sports Club was interpreted by some analysts as a show of political influence from Odinga, with 11 Governors, 78 Members of Parliament as well as several MCAs and community elders in attendance.
“Kenya is embarking on a new journey, I am confident that we will get to our destination. We have to unite as One People and One Kenya. That is the call that we are carrying from here.
“There is no country in the world that is similar to Kenya, therefore each and every country must solutions to each of its own problems and peculiarities. We cannot go and copy how they did it in America. We must deal with these issues us ourselves, that is why we side this is a game of inclusion, not excluding,” Odinga asserted.
Among those present at the event were Odinga's erstwhile foes-turned-friends Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i. Matiangi's presence, in particular, was seen as indicative of the state's backing of the BBI meetings.
“There are people who think they know everything, but we want to say don’t mistake our silence to mean we are aloof to what is going on.
“You know what the truth is, you can see clearly where the truth is. It is in our President and the old man (Odinga) you see here; they are the wisdom of BBI. So, I stand here to confirm, that I will follow these two wherever they lead us and I'm only asking you to do the same,” the CS appealed at the meeting.
Ruto had argued that the BBI events were a waste of public resources, questioning previous commitments that Kenyans would have a chance to read the report for themselves and make up their minds.
