Ekuru Aukot, the Third Way Alliance party leader, has dared President William Ruto to expose the individuals he has been firing warnings at over the past few days, terming them ‘cartels’.
President Ruto has remained unstirred over his fiery warning to cartels whom he accused of stifling the growth of Kenya’s sugar sector, serving those tussling over the control of the Mumias Sugar Company with a triple-threat prescription: either withdraw the court cases or face jail, deportation, or a journey to heaven.
Aukot stated on Citizen TV’s Daybreak show on Thursday that Ruto now needs to unmask the faces behind the sugar crisis and provide Kenyans with the truth.
“We’ve talked about cartels for the longest time, especially by a government that has all the resources to be able to expose these cartels. They are not ghosts. They are not an abstract reality,” he said.
“Cartels are there, this is not new to us but all we are asking is deconstruct it, reduce it to facts and issues. Unmask them for us.”
He went on to add that President Ruto should be a man of action and cease the political talks, which always amount to nothing since he is not a novice in running government.
Aukot also poked holes in why the president is only focusing on the sugar sector, yet there are other sectors known to be dominated by cartels that also need to be streamlined.
“We have to be skeptical about what the government wants to do we have to be skeptical when the president chooses to speak about Mumias and doesn’t want to speak about the cartels in his own county of Uasin Gishu,” he said.
“This is a man when he presented himself as having a plan of action for this country there was every reason to believe him that he actually knows where the problem in this country is.”
During a roadside address in Kakamega County on August 29, Ruto fired a stern warning at those he termed ‘sugar cartels’ blaming them for the collapse of the country’s sugar industry.
The warning, however, was foiled by chilling threats that seemed to carry undertones of ill motive.
“Mimi nimewaambia hao watu wote hakuna mtu akona kitu hapo. Hawa wakore wote watoke. Hio kampuni ni ya wananchi na tutaipangia upya. Hakuna kesi tutaentertain hapo. Kesi watoe na wao wenyewe watoke,” said Ruto.
“Wakitaka kuniletea kisirani either wahame Kenya ama nitawaweka jela ama wasafiri waende mbinguni.”
Ruto reiterated his sentiments in Kakamega on Wednesday, where he maintained there would be no place to hide for those corrupting the sugar sector.
“Mimi nataka niwaambie wezi wote na wakora na watangazia mapema na mchana… Watakoma na kama hawatakoma maneno ni tatu wahame Kenya, kama sivyo tutawapeleka jela ama kama wako na option ya tatu waende mbinguni,” he said.
