DP Ruto tells youth not to gamble with their votes as he tours Makueni County

Deputy President William Ruto has warned that the youth are a ticking time bomb.

The DP said unemployment has driven the youth to depression and crime and it was insincere for politicians to push for constitutional amendments and power sharing.

Ruto, who campaigned in Makueni County on Thursday, rallied the youth to vote wisely for a government that will improve their affairs.

Taking cognizance of the numerical strength of the youth in the country, the DP warned that therein lies a national crisis, singling out the rate of unemployment among the young people as a ticking time bomb if not remedied.

“Many of them (youth) have gone into depression, crime and drugs because they have nothing to do and it is not their fault. If there is a crisis that we must deal with, it is the crisis of unemployment,” he said.

The DP scoffed at his rivals for downgrading the youth while amplifying their push for constitutional amendments to expand the executive and share power.

“It is an insult to the millions of young people in our nation for anybody to propose that we first need to change the Constitution so that we can add powers to the president and create jobs for leaders,” he stated.

As the 2022 General Election campaigns pick pace, the deputy president put the youth on notice not to gamble with their votes.

Ruto punched holes on ODM leader Raila Odinga’s social welfare program and trickle down economy that he said amounted to tokenism.

Instead, he projected his bottom-up economy as the transformative economic drive that will turn around the country’s ailing economy.

“Na nyinyi msicheze karata ya pata potea, msiweke kura yenu mahali mpango ni kubadilisha katiba watu wagawane vyeo na mamlaka. Weka kura yako mahali unajua agenda ya kwanza ni vile wewe utapata kazi na kufanya biashara na vile kila mtu atainuka katika taifa la Kenya,” he stated.

“Mimi naomba msamaha kwa sababu last time mimi ndio nilichelewa mkapiga kura kule kwingine ikaenda msituni…raundi hii nimefika hapa, na hakuna mambo ya guesswork.”

The DP pledged Ksh.100 billion for youth empowerment, Ksh.50 billion for SMEs access to cheap credit and another Ksh.50 billion annually for farmers to enhance agriculture.

“Hawa wengine…mmoja alikuwa Prime Minister…mmoja alikuwa Vice President…mwingine alikuwa Deputy Prime Minister…kazi yao iko wapi? Kama mtu hajawai kufanya kazi na amepata nafasi ya kufanya kazi, wewe utafanya mchezo ya guesswork?” He posed.