This archive report was first published on 1 July 2019.
On Sunday, opposition leader Raila Odinga criticized Deputy President William Ruto for downplaying the loss of millions of shillings in the Arror and Kimwarer dam scandal in Elgeyo Marakwet County.
Odinga spoke at a thanksgiving ceremony in Chebara Primary School, where he stated, 'It (the project) has now been allocated Sh63 billion and Sh21 billion has been lost yet no work has been done.'
He also disputed Ruto's claim that only Sh7 million was lost in the project.
However, Ruto fired back on Monday during a women empowerment forum in Nyamira, accusing Odinga of wanting Kenyans to remain poor.
He branded Odinga the 'lord of poverty,' saying, 'You (Odinga) were against the Eurobond, because you said it is corrupt; you were against the Northern Collector Tunnel, because you said it is corrupt; you were against us building the railway, you told us it is corrupt; you were against us raising money in churches, because you said it is corrupt, you are against any harambee, even for women, because you say it is corrupt.'
Ruto continued, 'But it is because you are the lord of poverty and you want poverty in our country. You are opposed to any development in our nation because you believe this country should be poor, so that people can continue to support you, and I’m telling you we will work night and day to eliminate poverty in this nation, so that your kingdom of poverty has no place in Kenya and the lord of poverty will have no space in our nation.'
