Sifuna Reluctantly Withdraws Remarks on Ruto Amidst Intense Pressure

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna was on Wednesday compelled to retract his comments regarding President William Ruto following a critique he made about Ruto's 2023 State of the Nation address.

According to Sifuna, a large part of the speech contained falsehoods, especially when it came to Ruto's declaration about having WiFi set up across the nation. In response, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi challenged Sifuna to back up his assertions with evidence, a task that proved tough for the Senator to fulfil right away. Due to this, Sifuna was given until today to produce proof.

Unfortunately, Sifuna was unable to validate his statement, prompting him to retract it. Sifuna clarified that he aims to gather affidavits from traders in the markets to support his claim that the WiFi hotspots are not functional. However, obtaining these affidavits would require more time, so he had to withdraw his previous comment.

''My idea of substantiation was to prepare affidavits by traders in those markets to demonstrate that in fact, those WiFi hotspots don't work. Because of the time that it is taking to produce those affidavits, I want to withdraw that remark,'' Sifuna submitted.

He promptly noted that he still stands by his stance, stating that he would voice his statement once the affidavits are in his possession. In addition to the commitment to install WiFi, Senator Sifuna also refuted the government's claim of providing subsidized fertilizer to Kenyans, arguing that it was actually a donation from the Russian government. Senator Sifuna furnished evidence to support his position, citing official statements from the Russian Embassy that had been validated on social media.

Meanwhile, Sifuna is unconvinced of President Ruto's alleged strides regarding the Hustler Fund. Separate from this, ODM MP Ken Chonga was expelled from Parliament due to the use of inappropriate language. The Deputy Speaker Gladys Shollei confirmed this during the session. Chonga had previously scrutinized President William Ruto’s State of the Nation Address, along with the perceived delinquency of the country’s execution of promised projects.