Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua has revealed that Deputy President William Ruto was almost blocked from accessing a meeting which former United States President Barack Obama chaired at Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi.
This was back in the year 2015 when Obama toured the country for the first time after winning the U.S presidency.
According to Dr. Mutua, Obama did not want Ruto to be enjoined in his meeting due to corruption allegations that were being leveled against him.
Dr. Mutua said he was ready to give every detail around the stand-off at Kasarani, and how corruption scandals surrounding the DP have damaged his reputation in the global eye.
“…they tried to lock him out of Kasarani. There was a meeting that was being held and they were trying to lock out the DP from attending a meeting with President Obama, it’s a long story I’m writing it in my book,” Dr. Mutua said during Citizen TV’s Day Break show on Thursday.
He was speaking about political leaders who believe in dishing out handouts to the youth, to drive their political agenda.
Dr. Mutua said he admired the hardworking efforts that the DP has exhibited, but challenged him (Ruto) to declare his source of wealth.
“If I was William Ruto I would give a spreadsheet. Show where everything comes from, all his companies, not assets but hard currency cash,” he stated.
The Governor went on to say that “if we could get clarification on the source of all that money, we will move on to ideology and other things.”
Obama termed the development in the country as extraordinary and remarkable but noted that much more could be achieved if challenges such as corruption and inequality were eliminated.
“Kenya has made extraordinary strides in recent decades. The barriers of progress that young Kenyans face today are not as rigid as the ones that might have faced previous generations. There has been real progress in this amazing country and it should inspire today’s young Kenyans to demand even more progress,” said Obama.
Corruption has been a topical conversation in Kenya for a long time, and the U.S once blacklisted some senior government officials in Kenya from visiting the country.
In November 2019, the US imposed sanctions on Kenya’s former attorney general, Amos Sitswila Wako, accusing him of involvement in “significant” corruption.
Wako, who was attorney general during Kenya’s rocky transition from one-party rule to democracy, was barred from entering the U.S under the sanctions, as are his wife and son.
Washington criticized Wako several times during his tenure as attorney general from 1991 to 2011 for not doing enough to crack down on corruption.
