DP William Ruto is working hard to ensure that he succeeds his boss President Uhuru Kenyatta in the coming general elections.
This can be seen by his efforts in campaigning around the country day in and day out, in an attempt to win more votes and bring more people to his side.
However, there are number of things that the DP has been associated with that might stall his presidential ambitions and they include:
Land grabbingÂ
DP William Ruto has been labeled as the chief land grabber. There are a number of public lands that he has been linked to including that which his Weston Hotel stands near Wilson airport.
Other pieces of lands that the second in command is said to have grabbed include; Muteshi land, Langata primary land KPC land, Sewerage land, ADC land and Murungi land.
In a past interview, DP however denied that he had grabbed Lang’ata primary land, which saw the pupils get tear gassed, saying that the owner was a Kenyan and was in court fighting for his land therefore there is no way that could have been him.
He also said that he owns shares in the Weston Hotel, which has been involved in a lengthy row with Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. The hotel faces a possible demolition.
Failures Of Jubilee Government especially in 2013-2017 period
The Jubilee government made a lot of promises to Kenyans and most of them became empty promises.
To make matters worse, some of the promises were made by DP Ruto, for example construction of stadiums.
 Then there is the laptop programme that Jubilee promised class one children that has not been fully implemented across the country.
Another thing that will haunt him on this was the overborrowing by the Jubilee government. The administration saw Kenya’s debt rise from Kshs 1.8 trillion to Kshs 7.2 trillion during their 9 years of administration.
President Kenyatta also recently told Kenyans that he had achieved much more in government during his second term when he fell out with Ruto than the first term, putting Ruto in a more complicated position.
Aror and Kimwarer dam scandal
DP Ruto is still being linked to the 2019 scandal that saw Former Treasury CS Henry Rotich and 26 other officials get arrested, even though he was cleared by the office of the Director of Public Prosecution in June 2020.
It is alleged that the DP participated in the theft of public funds meant for the project and that saw the project stalled.
A report by Standard Media in 2019 said that more than Kshs19 billion of taxpayers were lost yet the project. Initially, the project was to cost Kshs 46 billion but the cost was increased to Kshs63 billion. The project had been started in 2015 and it never pushed through, sinking with all the billions.
Ruto however claimed that only Kshs 7 billion was lost in an interview, and he hardly talks about the scandal, despite the fact that he addresses other cases of corruption such as the Kemsa scandal.
Most of his allies are filled with flaws
Some of DP William Ruto have found themselves on the wrong side of the law, some with a history of corruption cases.
Governor Anne Waiguru was involved in the NYS scandal that saw Kshs 791 millions stolen when she was the devolution secretary.
His close ally, Rigathi Gachagua was also linked to corruption of covid funds and money laundering and this saw him get arrested in the wee hours a few months ago.
Others include former Sports CS Rashid Echesa, Lamu governor Fahim Twaha among others. About 30 of his allies were linked to corruption.
Rigging in elections
This is another thing that will be used against DP Ruto as Kenyans will be judging on who should take over from the son of Jomo.
For a long time, there have been rumors that Jubilee rigged elections, thus stealing the victory from Raila Odinga.
That was confirmed first by Sabina Chege, who is now supporting Raila’s presidential candidature and later by Moses Kuria who is Ruto’s ally. Kuria gave a list of Ruto’s allies that participated in the malpractice and that only tainted Ruto’s image.
That however seems to be just a quarter of the as the main job was done with Ruto’s friend Davis Chirchir.
It is alleged that Chirchir, who was the chief agent of Jubilee, hacked IEBC servers in 2013 and the subsequent elections and tampered with the presidential results.
After the 2013 general elections, Chirchir was allegedly later rewarded with a cabinet secretary position. He served as the Energy CS but was kicked out of government due to corruption after EACC went for his neck.
As the results for the 2017 elections were streaming in, Chirchir is said to have sat at the corner of the tallying center in Bomas of Kenya while focused on his laptop. Chirchir is currently working as Ruto’s chief of staff.
The ghost of Chris Msando is also on his neck. Msando was committed to ensuring that there is a free and fair election and he ended up being assassinated.
Now Ruto is also complaining about vote rigging.
RELATED STORY:Did DP Ruto Abandon His Office In Harambee House? Jubilee Sheds Some Light
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