Outspoken Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu has renewed his attacks on opposition chief Raila Odinga.
The governor has openly raised concerns over the famous March 9, 2018 handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila.
Speaking on Sunday at St Paul's ACK in Kiambu, Waititu hit out at Raila over what he termed as the ODM leader's hidden motive to capitalise on the handshake to destabilise the Jubilee Party and split Central Kenya votes ahead of the 2022 polls.
"He has come to wreck the Jubilee Party ahead of the 2022 general elections. His plan is to discredit the party and President Uhuru Kenyatta in the run up to the polls," said Waititu.
Waititu's attacks on Raila could be due to the fear that Deputy President William Ruto might be shortchanged ahead of the much awaited 2022 presidential polls.
The county boss has, however, maintained that the Jubilee Party will pass the baton to Ruto after Uhuru's term expires in 2022, as per the 2013 pre-election pact between the two leaders.
Waititu has also come out to defend his close ally Ruto after Raila linked him to the Sh21 billion scandal involving the Arror and Kimwarer dams in Elgeyo Marakwet County.
He rubbished Raila's allegations, arguing that the former premier has no moral authority to comment on graft matters, considering he has been accused of the same in the past.
"Why are we listening to him yet we all know he is a crook? We won't accept as Jubilee to be taken to the forest by an individual whose behaviour we all know," he added.
The outspoken governor, popularly known as Baba Yao, is also seeking to protect the image of the Kikuyu community, by ensuring Mt Kenya voters rally behind Ruto's bid in 2022. Waititu argues that failure to support Ruto in 2022 will see the community branded dishonest.
"Kiambu County and the entire Central Kenya region will rally behind Ruto's 2022 presidential bid. We will honour the pre-election pact because the president announced in broad daylight that he would be in office for ten years and hand over the baton to Ruto in 2022. We will nor accept Mt Kenya residents to be branded dishonest over failure to honour the pact," said Waititu.
Last year, Waititu warned Ruto against trusting Raila, noting that the DP should not be blinded by the handshake as Raila was a schemer.
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