President Uhuru Kenyatta has hinted that his critics within the Jubilee Party are mistaken to think that he would order a clampdown from provocations and insults.
Speaking to his Kikuyu backyard via four vernacular FM radio stations, Uhuru said he had chosen to keep quiet with his eye on delivering development.
“We will not go where they think they can drive us. But as I said in Mama Hannah’s funeral in Vihiga, don’t mistake keeping quiet for cowardice. If they dare try provoking national strife, they will see us in our true colours,” Uhuru said in an interview.
Uhuru also said that anti-Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) brigade had sought to bring down the constitutional reform moment by linking it to 2022 and branding it a route to help opposition leader Raila Odinga.
“The truth of the matter is that I do not remember telling you to vote for any particular persons and giving any promises to anyone. When the elections come, we shall look exercise our democratic right and we shall surely be evaluating each every candidate on the ballot,” he added.
The president urged his Mt Kenya backyard to move in unity towards the next political dispensation saying that some political players from the region are guilty of accepting payments to bring down rivals.
“There is a clique seeking to divide our people for their own selfish interest and I want to tell you that divided you will fall and my plea to you is that we move together and we also move together with the rest of Kenya,” he said.
He accused the Jubilee faction led by his Deputy William Ruto of refusing to head to his plea that they stop politicking and concentrate on development.
“The truth of the matter is that when they go out there and politics they are boasting using the projects in roads, water and last-mile connectivity projects that we have undertaken,” he added.
He also said he was looking forward to a stress-free retirement in which he will be able to watch from the sidelines and engage in “other national development engagement even if it is just farming.”
On the provocations, the president said; “They will stone this tree but the fruit they want from it will not fall…and if it does, it will land in the hands of a person who stands for truth and justice. It is not me who shall hand over that fruit but God.”
The angered President said that he was fully aware of the faction which, according to him, has been rattling him in an attempt to make him use extra force on them to garner sympathy from Kenyans in return.
“They think that if they continue insulting me I will send officers to arrest them. Let them continue with that route. Insult me…insult me. I am where I am until when my term is over. I won’t overreact or lie low consoling myself over the insults. I am busy working for the nation,” said Uhuru.
“Insults are like mud. At the point I will get into a river I will have them washed off. They won’t stick. If insulting me is what makes you happy, makes your heart feel contented continue,” he added.
He, however, issued a stern warning stating that he will not hesitate to take punitive action against anyone whose politicking will be a threat to the country’s peace and progression.
“Let it be a warning to them. I dare them to stop progress in the government’s work or cause violence and war, just as I told them the other day, don’t mistake a rained-on lion for a cat. My focus is uniting Kenyans and having peace beyond the next elections,” he said.
He took a swipe at his critics saying that he was aware that they were being funded to cause mayhem during his administration.
