Deputy President William Ruto has dismissed as fake news reports that his allies are plotting to scuttle the push for a referendum by the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
Ruto, who made reference to a front-page article by The Star titled ‘Ruto Allies Plot to Scuttle Uhuru-Raila Referendum’, accused Kenyan newspapers of using his name to sell fake stories.
“This is what constitutes FAKE NEWS. I know it is difficult but newspapers should try selling without the ‘Ruto’ mention. Please! Tafadhali woiye!” Ruto said in a tweet on Tuesday night.
In the article, The Star quoted a number of leaders allied to DP Ruto saying they were well prepared to shoot down BBI’s bid to introduce amendments to the Constitution through a referendum.
Two weeks ago, Ruto called out The Standard newspaper over a story where it claimed that President Kenyatta snubbed him at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The publication reported that Kenyatta avoided Ruto at the Nairobi airport as he returned to the country from a trip to Zambia.
The Standard said that Ruto was waiting to receive Kenyatta at the VIP section but the President opted to use the ordinary passengers’ terminal.
“The president, who arrived at JKIA at 4 pm on Saturday, discarded protocol and went straight to the international passenger terminals catching his deputy unawares. Ruto was accompanied by Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu,” The Standard reported.
It added: “Dr. Ruto, who was waiting at the Pavilion, immediately left for the city center, after he was informed that the president had already disembarked from the plane and was inside the airport in a series of events that officials tried to dismiss as a ‘small deviation from the usual protocol.”
In a tweet, DP Ruto said the information in the article was false because he was nowhere near JKIA on that day.
“FAKE NEWS ALERT!!! I was nowhere near JKIA. I am NOT surprised that some media houses & their owners are this desperate. Tuwasamehe tu!!” Ruto posted on his Twitter account.
We will reject BBI which…
We will reject BBI which wants to create seat for muuaji raila.We want to punguza mzigo n Aokot referendum must go thru n i wish many of majority kenyans will vote yes for it otherwise if they dare vote for ongeza ngunia bbi they should forever shut up for the rest of their life to come.Bbi will make ondingaism n kenyataism moism mudavadism kalonzozim to remain in power n yet we have suffered greatly with them from bad leadership corruption theft.Wacha wakwenda come 2022 we try new pple.
We need matiangi character…
We need matiangi character in that big office ..full stop
Uhuru has to be commended…
Uhuru has to be commended for this one ‘brother act’ ! what is wrong with Ruto ? bringing waititu to influence his theft court case . ruto/waititu no wonder birds of a feather flock together or what does waititu have on ruto for ruto is not a stupid man he knows what he is exactly cooking