President William Ruto encountered hostile territory over the weekend after he was heckled by Embu residents while delivering his speech during the consecration and installation of Bishop Peter Kimani Ndung’u at the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Mukangu.
The incident prompted Embu leaders to shift blame over the residents’ chaotic bursts.
Governor Cecily Mbarire on Monday led the fray by calling out some of the regional leaders for orchestrating the heckling.
She noted that the ‘Ruto must go’ slogans were a sign of disrespect towards the presidency at a time when the county is seeking for developmental funds.
“Even if we are angry, we have never reached a point of heckling the President. We have been taught abusive politics of hate by leaders who want us to lose our track,” she noted without naming the specific leaders,” Mbarire noted.
“I am pleading with you as a veteran politician we are not helping ourselves with unnecessary political battles. When you see me quiet in this government I know what I am doing. Other places like Nyeri, Murang’a, Kiambu and Kirinyanga have tarmacked roads, where are ours?” she posed.
On his part, Manyatta Member of Parliament Gitonga Mukunji criticised Mbarire’s statements, noting that the residents only lashed out at the president when he touched on the healthcare crisis in the county.
The lawmaker explained that the healthcare sector has been on its knees over failed policies and ineffective service delivery.
He said that Governor Mbarire ought to take full responsibility for misleading the president by claiming that over 43,000 residents were mobilised by regional leaders to heckle him.
“The governor of Embu is fully responsible for the president being booed in Embu. She is the one who should ask the questions because the president was going on with his speech and receiving praises until he touched on the healthcare sector,” he noted.
“When he did so, the residents could not express their displeasure because it’s a motive issue. Over 43,000 attended the event, who has all those funds to mobilise such a crowd?”
The MP added that the government ought to face the truth when Kenyans express their dissatisfaction on certain issues, dismissing claims that he would be involved in orchestrating such an incident.
“If people can say Mukunji can mobilise such people, do I have such kind of resources to do that, I should then be running for president. Then why should I mobilise people and not get a chance to speak?”
During his speech over the weekend, Ruto praised the Universal Health Coverage (UHC), noting that his administration was committed to providing equal access.
“Katika mambo ya matibabu, jana tumezungumza mambo ya UHC, ata mimi nikitoka hapa nitapitia hospitali hapa Embu. Nataka Kuhakikisha kwamba mambo ya hospitali ni haki ya kila Mkenya,” Ruto said amid a series of outbursts from the crowd.
The president, however, completed his speech, assuring that his administration was willing to correct the errors done in his tenure.
