I am ready to declare my wealth, says Ruto

By JEREMIAH KIPLANG’AT jkiplangat@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Friday, February 15  2013 at  10:28

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The Jubilee alliance running mate William Ruto has said he is ready to declare his wealth.

Mr Ruto said he was ready to make known his fortunes saying public officers should not hide their wealth arguing that doing so has in the past encouraged corruption and amassing of ill gotten wealth.

“I will do so when asked to and our presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta is also willing to do likewise,” Mr Ruto said during the deputy presidential debate held Thursday night at the All Saints Cathedral Church in Nairobi.

Only Narc-Kenya’s presidential candidate Martha Karua has so far declared her wealth. Ms Karua, while saying she was worth Sh56 million, challenged her opponents for the top seat to reveal their fortunes too.

Mr Ruto said a Jubilee government will ask public officers to declare their wealth saying it was one of the ways to fight graft.

The running mates were questioned on their readiness to tackle corruption, the vice that has borne numerous scandals including Goldenberg, Anglo Leasing, Triton and Maize scandals over the last two decades.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, also the Cord running mate, said his 28-year experience in the public service gave him a higher chance to fight the vice.

“We will firmly deal with corruption. My colleague the Prime Minister Raila Odinga (Cord’s flagbearer) and I are willing to wipe out this menace in the shortest time possible,” the VP said during the three-hour debate.

Eagle Alliance’s Ronald Osumba, however, questioned the VP’s willingness to stamp out the vice saying a period of 28 years was a long time enough to kill corruption if there was a commitment to do so.

“We are willing to stamp out corruption and all its sources. The time when corruption cases take more than 20 years to resolve will be over when we take over government next month,” Mr Osumba promised adding that the leading candidates should tell Kenyans the sources of their campaign money if they were ready to be counted in the fight against corruption. 

The other deputies also promised to give priority to the fight against corruption with Amani coalition’s Jeremiah Kioni saying the battle had been interfered with by “top government officials in the past".

Ms Karua’s deputy Augustine Lotodo, Safina’s Shem Ochuodho, and Alliance for Real Change Joshua Odongo also participated in the Thursday night debate. 

The debate was organised by the Christian media stations and Daystar University and was broadcast live on Kenya Broadcasting Corporation radio and television outlets.

It came just days after the Monday night pioneering presidential debate organised by the Media Owners Association.