DP Ruto to Raila: ‘We respectfully disagree with your very wrong understanding of hustler’

DP William Ruto has criticised ODM leader Raila Odinga after the latter urged Parliament not to legislate against the ‘hustler’ narrative but likened it to that of Adolf Hitler.

Taking to Twitter, Dr. Ruto accused Raila of ignorance saying though the argument on free speech is valid, there are no similarities between the hustler narrative and Nazis in Germany.

“While AGREEING fully with your defence of FREEDOM of SPEECH&THOUGHT as guranteed by CONSTITUTION,we RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE with your very WRONG UNDERSTANDING of Hustlers BUT will equally defend your thoughts.We will work tirelessly to get Hustlers narrative positively understood,” the DP said on Twitter.

According to the former Prime Minister, DP Ruto and his team are guaranteed freedom of speech and association as enshrined in the Constitution hence they should be allowed to run their campaign in whichever way they deem fit.

He however maintained his stand against the hustlers slogan urging Kenyans to see through its dangers and reject it when the time comes.

The opposition chief compared the ‘hustlers vs dynasties’ slogan to Adolf Hitler’s National Socialism, most often referred to as Nazism, the ideology of the Nazi Party, which ruled Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.

“Nazism profiled German society on the lines of race, social classes and tribe. It had the Aryan race, which it considered the master race, and whose survival Hitler pegged on the elimination of Jews, Romanis or Gypsies, the Indo-Aryan, the Slavs and the “inferior sub-humans” who were seen to be the problem in Germany. These ideologies caused a great deal of trauma to Germany and the world. They ended in the Holocaust. I fear the “hustlers vs dynasties” narrative will have the same deadly consequences for Kenya as Nazism did for Germany,” Raila stated.

He added: “Those of us who see its dangers should continue educating our people against falling for it. I have faith that Kenyans will see through this divisive and potentially deadly rhetoric and its attacks on fellow Kenyans, and reject it in the end.”

Meanwhile, DP Ruto has challenged politicians to strike alliances based on ideologies saying Kenya is beyond tribal political formations.

“We must be transformative in our thoughts. Gone are the times when Kenya was led by tribal chiefs,” he noted.

The Deputy President explained that what Kenyans are after is the birth of a political outfit that will uplift their standards of living.

“That is why we are activating the coalition of the people with ideas through the hustler nation. This will advance the allocation of more resources at the base of the wealth pyramid,” he said.

Through this ideology, Dr Ruto added, Kenya will move to the next level of economic growth.

“Anchored on progressive ideas and visionary leaders, this idea will create jobs, wealth and opportunities for the millions of ordinary Kenyans,” said the Deputy President.

He said while the Hustler nation believed in the win-win kind of politics, his competitors were still fixed on the win-lose situation where a few people benefit as millions are left to suffer.

Dr Ruto was speaking on Wednesday at his Karen residence in Nairobi where he met over 400 grassroots leaders from Nairobi, Mombasa Nakuru and Nyanza.

Additional report by Ian Omondi and DPPS