Raila Odinga exposed William Ruto as a land grabber during his speech on Jamhuri Day celebration held at Uhuru garden.
In his speech, Raila took the country through a history lesson and pointed out that in colonial era Uhuru garden was known as Open Grounds next to Nairobi Dam, and that it was used as a torture chamber.
He took a swipe at Ruto saying that during the time, the land on which Weston Hotel stands was part of the chambers and that after Kenya gained its independence, it was to be transformed into public grounds.
“This one here was called open ground next to Nairobi Dam. This one was chosen because it was a concentration camp where as the president has said, freedom heroes were tortured.
“Next to the Weston Hotel, which is part of these grounds, in Langata Primary School, there are torture chambers which had been preserved by the Museum of Kenya for people to know where we have come from…This land had been grabbed by those land grabbers who see open space and cannot stop grabbing them, but you, your excellency managed to retrieve it for the benefit of our people,” Raila remarked.
Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is fighting a court battle with Weston Hotel, which is owned by Ruto, to recover land on which the hotel is built.
KCAA claims Ruto’s hotel colluded with two firms to grab its land. In its court papers, however, Weston avers it legally bought the land from Priority Ltd and Monene Investment Ltd.
While detailing gaps in Weston’s papers, KCAA argues that although Weston claims to be an innocent purchaser, there is no consent from the Commissioner of Lands approving the alleged sale, and no stamp duty was paid to seal the purchase process.
The case is still pending in court waiting.
Meanwhile Ruto fired back at Raila after he exposed him as a landgrabber during his speech on Jamhuri day.
Speaking at a church, Ruto said Raila has no moral authority to lecture him on matters corruption claiming that the opposition run corruption cartels in government.
“Hawa watu ndugu zetu hawa ni watu wa ajabu sana. Kwa sababu wakiwa huko kwa serekali walikua wanaibia vijana sasa wako upinzani wamaibia watu wagonjwa kupitia kwa ile inaitwa Covid billionaires. Sasa mukiwa serikali munaiba, mukiwa upinzani munaiba and the opposition runs corruption cartels in government. And the same opposition pretends to run lectures on how to fight corruption. Surely what an irony,” Ruto said.
Related: Dennis Itumbi Agrees Ruto Is A Thief After Jamhuri Day Speech
