Kenya This Week: Raila, Ruto Take on Each Other in Bare Knuckle Twitter Confrontation, Other Top Stories

• President William Ruto and Raila Odinga clashed over the fate of four electoral agency commissioners, including vice chair Juliana Cherera
• A tweet by William Ruto, in which he appeared to refer to Raila Odinga as a ‘lord of impunity,’ was uncharacteristically aggressive
• Also, the frequent power outage has made Kenyans furious, bearing in mind KPLC is the only power distributor in the country
• TUKO.co.ke highlights the trending stories this week, including a Kenyan youth innovator who won the EAC regional Presidential Innovation Award

During the fourth week of November 2022, President William Ruto and opposition chief Raila Odinga publicly renewed their rivalry.

The Head of State and the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party leader clashed over the fate of four electoral agency commissioners, including vice chair Juliana Cherera.

A tweet by Ruto, in which he appeared to refer to Raila as a ‘lord of impunity,’ was uncharacteristically aggressive.

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Ruto’s tweet did not sit well with Raila, who dismissed the hearings as being done at the president’s behest to meddle with the 2027 elections.

Also this week, Kenyans expressed frustrations over regular Kenya Power countrywide outages.

This frequent power outage has made Kenyans furious, bearing in mind KPLC is the only power distributor in the country.

According to Kenyans, the monopoly KPLC enjoys contributed to its laxity, yet millions of businesses depend on power for daily operations.

Other stories that made headlines in the ended week include:

1. William Ruto Shreds Raila Odinga for Defending Embattled 4 IEBC Officials: “Lords of Impunity.”

The words of war between Ruto and Raila appear to be far from over.

Raila has been on the record defending the four electoral agency officials who are set to appear before a House committee over their conduct in the August 9 presidential vote.

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But in a quick rejoinder, Ruto hit out at the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party boss and his allies, terming them lords of impunity.

“They have destroyed oversight institutions using handshake fraud. They should allow parliament to hold rogue officials who put the nation in danger by subverting the democratic will of the people to be held to account. New order is a RULE of LAW, not the wishes of big men,” Ruto said.

Raila, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) boss, vowed to lead a pushback against Ruto’s government.

2. Kenyan man asks Elon Musk to buy Kenya Power after nationwide outage

Following the hours-long power blackout across the country on Thursday, November 24, Kenyans expressed frustrations and disappointment and sought solutions to the power problem.

Among the solutions suggested was finding a new owner for the Kenya Power company in the hope that the new owner would manage it well and there would not be sudden blackouts.

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William Ruto Shreds Raila Odinga for Defending Embattled 4 IEBC Officials: “Lords of Impunity”

A Twitter user identified as Paul Hastings Kitala of @iamhastingske suggested the chief executive and chief engineer of SpaceX and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, buy the power company.

“Hi @elonmusk, can you buy Kenya Power?” he captioned a screen grab of a statement issued by Kenya Power over the nationwide blackout.

Hastings’s post led to hundreds of comments asking the owner of Tesla, who recently acquired Twitter, to do one thing or the other.

3. Moses Kuria’s Trouble Piles as Agriculture Ministry Officials Deny Approving Maize Importation

Also this week, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development distanced itself from the order by Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, allowing the importation of duty-free maize into the country to alleviate hunger.

According to Livestock Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai, the ministry was still in the process of establishing if their if food deficit in the county before issuing an advisory on quantities required to meet the shortfall.

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“We have not recommended the quantities of maize to be imported because we are yet to establish the actual deficit. Valuation is ongoing and we shall advise when to import the grains,” said Kimtai on Wednesday, November 23, as reported by Daily Nation.

During the First National Avocado conference held at Eldoret, Kimtai revealed that various intergovernmental agencies were determining the quantity of maize held by farmers in the country.

The PS noted that if the ministry sanctions maize importation, they will source from regional markets before going global.

4. Kenyan Youth Innovator Wins EAC Regional Presidential Innovation Award

Joseph Nguthiru, a student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Egerton University, is the winner of the Presidential Award for Kenya in the East African Youth Innovation Forum (EAYIF).

Nguthiru, 24, is an innovator who works on sustainable solutions to climate change. His current project is a startup called HyaPak.

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He and his team are working on creating biodegradable alternatives to single-use plastic products from water hyacinths — such as wrappers and consumables like straws, tubers, and plastic plates.

These biodegrade within three to six months. HyaPak was developed as a school project after Nguthiru, and his classmates got stuck in Lake Naivasha due to the water hyacinth surrounding their boat during a school trip.

For this innovation, Nguthiru has won a string of awards internationally from IGAD, UNESCO, and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), among others.

5. “Fake Foreign Coaches Threat to Kenyan Athletes, Promote Doping”: Senator Cherargei

This week, Nandi senator Samson Cherargei spoke for athletes in the country who have been banned over doping allegations.

Cherargei claimed that the doping blunder was not solely a mistake of the athlete in question but other underlying factors and other people involved.

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He warned that if not correctly handled, the menace would kill key sporting activities in the country.

“Doping is one of the soft underbellies that will kill the careers of most youthful people as far as talent is concerned,” Cherargei claimed.

Basing his arguments on a report he had tabled before the House, Cherargei said the anti-doping agency was going to publish more names entangled with doping cases hence crippling their flourishing career.

Source: TUKO.co.ke