Thread by @MatinaStevis

Foreign press meeting with DP @WilliamsRuto starting now. Tune in I'll start a #thread #Kenya

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DP Ruto: we've rolled up our sleeves -As for whether Mr Odinga will participate or not that is his choice to make. #Kenya #Kenyadecides

DP Ruto: Mr Odinga mis-stepped and decided to interpret the constitution himself... I still find them giving conditions. #Kenya

DP Ruto: we all know that Mr Odinga does not want to participate in this election because he knows the results #Kenya

DP Ruto: in my very honest assessment Mr Odinga is running away from a humiliating defeat and that's the essence of all this #Kenya

**DP Ruto: I think maybe this is a strategy so he can run in 2022 [Mr Odinga].... to face probably me in 2022 #Kenya

DP Ruto: We would love Mr Odinga to participate in this election but that's as far as we can go we cannot force him. It is his choice #Kenya

DP Ruto: What does a "political settlement" mean? Does it mean that there will be no competition in #Kenya?

DP Ruto: The law is not being changed because anyone wants to change the rules of engagement #Kenya

DP Ruto on electoral laws: We have a ... robust judiciary. In the event that there is any problem with the laws... these will be nullified

DP Ruto: "unfortunately I'm not the president... yet"

DP Ruto: We have no problem with IEBC agreeing with our competitors on any of hte matters that our competitors have proposed

DP Ruto: [not verbatim] we care about who will print the ballot papers, we care that there are ballot papers printed.

DP Ruto: Kenya is not the type of country where you find a president getting 99% of the vote -- those are fake things #Kenya

DP Ruto: Peaceful unarmed demonstrators are protected by the constitution. Rioters armed, violent are a threat to the peace #Kenya

I asked DP Ruto about the slowdown of the economic slowdown, failure in education & health services for wananchi & sky high debt >>

DP Ruto gave list of progress in education, electricity, health, infrastructure "to be able to industrialize"

DP Ruto: Easy to say "they have borrowed" but we are investing in our future...
The DP did not address the public finances problem

DP Ruto: This situation has been manufactured & created by our competitors... who don't want to go & ask the people of Kenya for their vote

DP Ruto: [the opposition]
want the international community to force Kenyans to negotiate in an unconstitutional manner #Kenya

DP Ruto: We don't agree w the ruling of the SC... but we're democrats... as democrats we prepare to go back to the election. #Kenya

DP Ruto: issue of servers not being opened is a fallacy propagated by Mr Odinga. The servers were made available to every group incl. ours

DP Ruto makes tongue in cheek comments about server concerns, "oh there was a cloud somewhere" etc #Kenya

DP Ruto: they don't want to recount the votes because they know they didn't win #Kenya

DP Ruto: The election of 2007 had issues. Serious issues. #Kenya

DP Ruto [responding to Q abt move to Jubilee]: I moved to no government, I created this govt. We parted ways w Mr Odinga bc we didn't agree

The press briefing to the foreign press has ended. We’re leaving the residence and back soon with some observations from our time w DP Ruto

Coming back to this thread from DP Ruto briefing w some additions per popular demand.

DP Ruto: Some of the rioters are armed... case in Kisumu there is investigation as to who shot the person y'day; police say not them

When I asked DP Ruto about state of the economy & public services & public finances challenges (debt, deficit, slower growth) he listed >

> New hospitals have been built, improved access to electricity, new technical colleges, thousands of kilometers of new tarmac roads >>

DP Ruto advanced developmental state argument for the Kenyan economy and said choice to spend big $$ on infrastructure was brave/visionary