ATWOLI now reveals how he helped DP RUTO to form his party after RAILA kicked him out of ODM – You won’t believe this

 

Thursday, August 26, 2021 – The Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary-General, Francis Atwoli, has revealed how he helped Deputy President William Ruto form a political party.

Speaking during an interview yesterday, Atwoli stated that he played a critical role in the formation of the United Republican Party (URP) that was dissolved in the run-up to the 2017 election to pave the way for the formation of the Jubilee Party.

Atwoli disclosed that he hosted leaders from the URP party at his home in Western Kenya after the Deputy President decamped from the Raila Odinga-led Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

Ruto was a member of the ODM party but ditched it after falling out with Odinga.

The outspoken unionist further claimed that Ruto deployed Mumias East Member of Parliament, Benjamin Washiali, to monitor the party’s activities from his (Atwoli’s) house.

“When he wanted to form his political party, URP, he used to get people like Washiali monitoring from my house, which is in Western Province,” Atwoli stated.

DP Ruto officially launched the URP party in January 2012. In December of the same year, the party’s leadership ratified a pre-election deal with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s then party of choice, The National Alliance (TNA).

The deal saw Uhuru pick Ruto as his running mate in the 2013 General Election, securing a win for the duo that was facing charges at the International Criminal Court at the Hague.

In 2016, URP officially merged with TNA and other parties allied to President Kenyatta and Ruto, forming the Jubilee Party that secured the two a second term in office in the 2017 elections.