Deputy President William Ruto has left his political allies, supporters and opponents confused following his sudden change of heart that saw him give the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report a clean bill of health.
DP Ruto changed tune on Sunday to support the amended BBI report and impending referendum as the collection of one million signatures in support of the BBI referendum entered its third day.
The second in command now says the needs of his ‘hustler nation’ have been incorporated in the amended draft BBI referendum bill released last week.
He argued that the report now captures a ‘bottom up’ economics and not ‘trickle-down’ economics hence his abrupt support that caught many off-guard.
NEW article 11A in the BBI Constitution bill INTRODUCED AFTER Bomas will ANCHOR the ORDINARY PEOPLES' Hustler economics of wheelbarrow, boda×2, mamamboga, pastoralists/butchers & GUARANTEED MINIMUM RETURNS on coffee, tea,korosho,sukari,maize. BOTTOM UP NOT TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS. pic.twitter.com/kg13czjNNU
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) November 27, 2020Read More
His change of position has caught his own supporters flatfooted as some had declared they would a oppose a BBI referendum led by Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa who vowed to lead a no campaign in Bungoma County.
Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga had declared her support for the amended report but later deleted the tweet claiming her account was hacked.
Read: Senator blunders on BBI, deletes post, blames hackers
Ruto had been championing an uncontested referendum and BBI proponents led by Raila Odinga’s ODM party had been daring him to a faceoff on the report.
Meanwhile, the collection of the signatures to back the BBI referendum, which is being backed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake mate Raila, is ongoing across the 47 counties.
