Kutuny stabbing me in the back – Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto on Friday, September 6, suggested he feels betrayed by Cherengany Member of Parliament Joshua Kutuny.

Speaking in the constituency on Friday at a funeral function, the DP said despite holding Kutuny’s hand in the political space, and ensuring he was elected MP in the area on August 8, 2017 after he lost the seat in the March 4, 2013 polls, the legislator has now turned his back on him.

“Among the Kalenjin people, there is a phrase that says: ‘when a cow breaks its leg, you tie the animal and treat it. It will heal soon, and, thereafter, you will continue getting milk from it.’ Sadly, for a human being, when he breaks an arm, you treat him, but he will later use the healed arm to slap you,” said Ruto while addressing Cherengany constituents.

“Anyway, for you people of Cherengany, I have no issues with you, whatsoever. Let us continue marching forth along the development path. Some of these leaders, when they go to Nairobi, they change their character and, maybe, get confused in the process. They are hired to speak on behalf of certain (political) factions, are fed, and when satisfied, they are given a spear to throw it back home.

“That same leader (suggests Kutuny), forgets that it is at home where his father, mother, siblings and his community live. Nonetheless, let’s forgive them. What I can assure you, people of Cherengany, is that I won’t abandon you. No one will oppress you so long as I am here. I, however, plead with these young men to go slow, when it comes to matters politics,” said the DP.

Ruto and Kutuny have had a sour relationship after the 2017 polls, with the MP, on several occasions, linking the DP to mega corruption scandals including the maize saga, Arror and Kimwarer dams scandal, among others.

Until Friday, September 2, the DP hadn’t directly responded to Kutuny’s constant attacks on him.

Kutuny, who was first elected as Cherengany MP in the 2007 polls on ODM Party ticket, lost the seat in 2013, but made a comeback in 2017.