Leaders drawn from Azimio la Umoja Coalition have criticised President William Ruto's hard stance against select tycoons accused of manipulating the sugar sector.
During his tour of Western Kenya on Monday, the Head of State insisted that he will not allow individuals, he argued were cartels, to operate within the industry.
Specifically, he challenged the individuals to either flee the country, risk jail terms or 'go to heaven'.
"There are cartels there. I have told them to leave. The company belongs to the people and we shal streamline it. There is no case there," the Head of State told a cheerful crowd in Nzoia, Bungoma County.
"If they want a fight, they should leave Kenya or I will jail them or they should go to heaven."
The comments, however, rattled some opposition leaders who argued that the statements amounted to a public trial.
In an early morning interview, Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka insisted that the accused deserved a chance to be heard or be tried in a court of law.
"I would like to sincerely plead with our President, his actions and utterances mean something. When a President stands up and talks about an individual, that individual, whether he has broken the law or not, is put in a position where I see unfairness," stated Onyonka while speaking on Citizen TV.
"We must protect due process very vigilantly. If someone has broken the law, let him go through the process. Let the President not be the person who makes announcements in public where he is accusing an individual because then he is trying this individual in advance."
Philip Etale, ODM Communications Director, backed his sentiments and argued that President William Ruto's address was not synonymous with a Head of State.
Ruto's death threats to Sugar tycoons came a few hours after Rai Group Billionaire Jaswant Rai was kidnapped by unknown men and later released. A CEO of a local bank accused of aiding Rai in laundering money was also arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers.
Rai was abducted on Friday under mysterious circumstances and released on Sunday evening. President Ruto openly claimed Rai was frustrating the government's plan to revitalise sugar companies in the Western regions.
He argued that privately owned sugar millers were profitable while those run by the state reeled under debts. As a result, he wrote off a debt amounting to Ksh117 billion that five millers owed but warned that he would not pump money into companies that would not generate profit.
“Do not be worried, I am alert to make sure everything will be okay. There is no one who will meddle,” the President assured residents of reviving the sugar industry.
“Do not be worried about someone coming to talk to us. Someone was telling me Rai. Who is Rai? No, that is not possible," Ruto warned while speaking at Uwanja Ndege Grounds in Bungoma County on Sunday.
