Irked Azimio La Umoja reacts to coalition membership onslaught by William Ruto

The spokesperson of Raila Odinga Presidential Campaign Secretariat Makau Mutua has accused President-elect William Ruto of harbouring dreams of leading the country back to the old day of KANU dictatorship.

Mutual issued a statement on Friday noting Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition’s shock at the events unfolding, terming them acts of impunity and unlawful.

He also accused Ruto of wooing leaders elected in the recent election as independent candidates and Azimio affiliated to his side in essence strangling the multi-party democracy.

“We are shocked that DP William Ruto, who harbors dreams of leading Kenya, is already engaged in acts of impunity and disregard of the rule of law. He must suffer from gross ignorance of our laws,” the statement partly read.

“As we issue this statement, Mr. Ruto is assiduously wooing some of the leaders elected as Independents and on the Azimio Coalition to defect to his side. This is the practice that was used in the KANU era to defeat the independence of the legislature and retard the growth of multiparty democracy.”

Mutua further told Ruto to note democracy requires vibrant pluralism and his attempts to destroy the Azimio coalition will bear no fruits.

“Mr. Ruto preaches water but drinks wine. He ought to know democracy requires vibrant pluralism in which different political parties compete on issues. Attempts to cannibalize Azimio by corrupting its members will not succeed,” Mutua said.

“The law that led to the formation of Azimio La Umoja One Kenya - and its Deed of Agreement - set out the ground rules and conditions under which members can exit the coalition. There are clear guidelines. Mr. Ruto should know that it is illegal for him, or others, to induce members to purport to leave Azimio. No member of Azimio has legally invoked the process of leaving the coalition. All the members who signed as original members are still members in good standing. So, any purported defections are a legal nullity.”

He drew Kenyans’ attention to what he termed as Ruto's hypocrisy and disregard for the law and appealed to leaders elected under the Azimio coalition or independent tickets to stay put and fight to protect the country’s democracy since Ruto has already panicked and is only using propaganda to validate his win.

“Mr. Ruto should not be allowed to take this country back to the old days of KANU dictatorship. He needs to stop engaging in the culture of political corruption. We know he wants to create propaganda to give the impression that he is the inevitable victor.” the statement read.

“The court will be the final arbiter on who won this election, and we are confident that we won it. Why has Mr. Ruto panicked and resorted to illegal and corrupt conduct in violation of the law? It can only be because he has sensed defeat. We urge Kenyans to see Mr. Ruto's hypocrisy and his disregard for the law for what it is. We ask our supporters and those elected on Azimio, or as Independents, to stand firm to vindicate our democracy.”