Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has accused President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) proponents of pushing his deputy William Ruto towards opposing constitutional changes.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Friday, October 30, Kuria argued that the government is reportedly seeking to test Odinga's political prowess and analyse whether he has the numbers that can propel him to ascend to the Presidency in 2022.
Ruto and his allies recently refuted reports that they would oppose the BBI but reiterated their call for a dialogue to discuss several contentious issues.
"All they want is for us to oppose the BBI so that they justify spending state resources on the referendum and enacting the proposal. They also want to test Raila's political machinery," Kuria alleged.
This is contrary to Kenyatta's assertions, who during the BBI launch on Monday, said that the document is not related to the 2022 succession politics. Speaking at the Bomas of Kenya on Monday, October 26, the Head of State stated that he and Odinga neither discussed the aftermath of the referendum nor who will succeed the President in 2022.
Kenyatta instead accused Ruto of having contrary ideas to him and focusing on early campaigns rather than delivering promises they made to Kenyans in 2012 and 2017.
His allies have, however, insisted on handing power to Odinga for one term only, to act as a transitional President.
"This is a relay and we all know that in such a race, you cannot pass the button to someone who has chosen to run in the opposite direction," the President argued.
Kuria added that he supports certain proposals in the BBI like the creation of 70 extra seats and 290 constituencies. The vocal MP stated that this will ensure densely populated and marginalized constituencies are developed.
However, the lawmaker alleged that Kenyatta and Odinga were further frustrating Ruto's camp by excluding them out of key BBI events.
Jubilee Deputy Secretary-General Caleb Kositany disclosed that Kuria attended the Bomas meeting despite not being invited. Kuria confirmed adding that Ruto's allies have again been left out of a key BBI meeting to be presided by Kenyatta in Naivasha on Sunday, November 1.
Odinga and at least 250 MPs out of the 416 lawmakers will attend the meeting seeking to unveil the roadmap for the implementation of the BBI proposals.
Ruto allies are contemplating on whether or not to hold a parallel meeting to the President's. The DP is, nonetheless, expected to hold talks with Odinga and Kenyatta after he met emissaries from Mt Kenya. The delegates urged him to support the BBI proposals.
ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna refuted allegations by Kuria, stating that no one was forcing Ruto to oppose the BBI.
"I cannot comment on Kuria's remarks as they are unfounded and he has no evidence to substantiate his claims. How can anyone push Ruto to chose sides? And Raila is not the organiser of the retreat," Sifuna stated while speaking to Kenyans.co.ke.
