Deputy President William Ruto has told off Azimio flag-bearer Raila Odinga on issuing ultimatums to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission - IEBC.
Speaking during his tour in Turkana County, Ruto warned Raila over frustrating independent institutions and even cited how he frustrated the previous electoral bodies in his quest for power.
“Stop frustrating IEBC. Focus on seeking votes you are not competing with IEBC. Come and meet us face to face. We will defeat you very early in the morning. We want you respect independent commissions, you destroyed commissions before, you wanted to destroy the Judiciary through BBI,” Ruto stated.
This comes barely a week after Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga demanded that IEBC should complement the electronic register with a manual register should the electronic system fail on the polling day.
“Manual register is a must at each polling station. It's not negotiable,” Raila remarked during a campaign rally in Gatundu.
The former Prime Minister had also raised concerns about the company printing ballot papers in Greece, Inform Lykos.
He claimed that the firm was linked to one of the Kenya Kwanza Leaders Moses Wetang'ula. The Azimio bandwagon challenged Moses Wetang'ula to come clean on his links with the company.
However, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati in his defence dismissed the reports, maintaining that prior to the award of the contract, the commission conducted due diligence and established that the company had the capacity to undertake printing of ballot papers.
According to the Deputy President, Raila has sensed defeat and as a result has now resorted to finding excuses for his own political shortcomings. Ruto insists that Raila Odinga as a player in the August polls cannot be a referee again to issue conditions to the Chebukati led commission.
Ruto has reiterated that IEBC should not take instructions from any candidate or be blackmailed to succumb to pressure from any politician warning that such politicians want to destroy the country.
The Kenya Kwanza flag-bearer also revisited the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) issue on how Odinga nearly pushed constitutional amendments to destroy the Judiciary.
The leaders who had accompanied William Ruto to Turukana asked Raila to abide by conditions set out by IEBC for the general elections without issuing unnecessary demands.
