The Orange Democratic Movement leader, Raila Odinga, made a thinly veiled attack at Deputy President William Ruto's relationship with foreign investors, alleging that they were insignificant to the economy.
Raila, while addressing Mt Kenya business members at the home of the late Nginyo Kariuki's son in Kiambu, on Thursday, August 12, said that the country's economy would grow through reliance on local investors rather than on foreigners.
His statement came a few days after the government removed from the country a Turkish investor linked to DP Ruto. Harun Aydin, the Turk, was picked by the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) at the Wilson Airport, interrogated and later ordered to leave the country.
President Uhuru Kenyatta also reportedly commented on the Turk when he met Raila and One Kenya Alliance (OKA) co-principals, Wiper's Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi of Amani National Congress (ANC), Ford Kenya's Moses Wetang'ula and Kanu's Gideon Moi at State House, Mombasa on August 10.
"The President was very mad with the DP following his discussions with a so-called foreign investor with questionable credentials and will no longer continue serving with people exhibiting divided loyalty," sources privy to the meeting stated.
While speaking in Kiambu on Thursday, August 12, Raila further castigated Ruto over his bottom-up economic approach, arguing that the narrative was misleading the youth.
"We want to lift Kenya from the status of a third-world economy to middle income by 2030. That is why we designed with Mwai Kibaki (former President), Vision 2030," the former Prime Minister added.
Raila was accompanied by his brother Oburu Odinga, former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth and Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua.
"Uhuru wants us to work with Raila, why would you not support him? He fought for the Constitution, and today, we have devolution," Peter Kenneth, a former Presidential candidate, stated.
Since being reportedly preferred by Uhuru as his 2022 successor, Raila has increased and scheduled more tours within Mt Kenya to counter DP Ruto's influence.
Kikuyu Council of Elders will host him and more than 100 Luo elders in Nyeri on August 28 as part of his new plan to win the area's voters.
"Now circumstances have changed and the government of the day is part of this movement to bring the lake and the mountain together," his brother, Oburu Odinga, told the businessmen in Kiambu.
