NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15- Deputy President William Ruto says he has an elaborate plan to free the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Kenya Revenue Authority from what he terms as state capture.
Under the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Deputy President said the two institutions have been weaponized, to target those who do not ‘support’ the government.
“They have weaponized the DCI and KRA to run political ends,” the DP Ruto asserted amidst cheers from the over 5,000 United Democratic Alliance delegates.
He was speaking during the UDA delegates convention that nominated him as the party’s presidential candidate.
“We shall professionalize the DCI office and the KRA for them to discharge their constitutional and legal duties,” he said.
But how does he intend to do that?
He said, “on the first day, we will appoint an accounting officer for the IG and DCI, so that going forward, they shall have the financial independence and they will never again depend on the Office of President, for them to discharge their mandate.”
“As they weaponize the KRA, we will professionalize the KRA and digitize it, and make sure it collects all the taxes professionally. We will not have to fight Kenyan’s enterprises and destroy people’s businesses.”
DP Ruto is likely to be the Kenya Kwanza coalition Presidential candidate, to face-off, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga- the candidate for Azimio la Umoja coalition.
He also committed to operationalise the Judiciary Fund, “for them to discharge their mandate independent of
“There is a deliberate move to ensure the Judiciary Fund has not been operationalized, yet it has been on our laws for the last 10 years. We want a Judiciary that is truly independent,” he said.
“We want a Judiciary that does not receive telephone calls for them to write a Judgement.”
He accused “our competitors” are the masters of “monopolies, they are the agents of conflict of interest, they are the agents of state capture and we must free this country from cartels and brokers.”
“We will deal firmly with conflict of interest,” he asserted.
While he did not directly address what has now become a political mystery, he said after their reelection, the Jubilee Party in which they were elected on, became retrogressive.
“From 2017, the party back-peddled on its foundational commitments including the founding covenant. It rejected the national inclusive issue-based transformative leadership and embraced retrogressive politics,” he said.
Since 2017, he said the ruling Jubilee party has advanced the agenda of a few.
He said the voice of dissent has been subjected to “humiliation, intimidation, and blackmail” just for having a contrary opinion.
Further, he accused President Kenyatta of overseeing the death of Kenya’s opposition.
Odinga is legally the opposition leader but since March 2018, he has supported the government agenda, after he shook hands with President Kenyatta.
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