Ruto ‘imposing candidate on voters’

By Osinde Obare

Kitale, Kenya: Jubilee’s William Ruto was heckled by the crowd in acampaign rally when he prevailed upon a TNA candidate to step down in favour of a URP contender.

Ruto had paraded TNA’s Mr Lawrence Mokosu and URP’s Jonas Kuko and asked Mokosu to consider stepping down and support Koku for the Saboti parliamentary seat when the crowd opposed the move.

“For the sake of the Saboat community, give us one candidate. I ask my brother Mokosu to step down in favour of Koku,” Ruto said. But the crowd irked by Ruto’s calls rejected the proposal and accused him of trying to impose a candidate on them.

“That is dictatorship. We are against it. We cannot allow people to dictate to us. Allow us to exercise our democratic rights,” said a rally attendant.

The deputy presidential candidate was addressing a Jubilee rally at Marambachi trading centre in Kitalale, Saboti constituency. He insisted that it will be difficult for Jubilee to win the seat should the two battle it out and split the Sabaot vote.

Angered by the remarks, Mokosu said it was unfair for Ruto to ask him to pull out of the race when he is the more popular candidate.