Deputy President William Ruto has told off his political opponents over what he termed as threats and intimidation.

Speaking during his tour of Nairobi on Wednesday, Ruto said Kenyans will be liberated from the intimidation and threats that have been used by his rivals to warn Kenyans against his bottom-up economic model.

“This year we will liberate ourselves from tribalism, intimidation and blackmail. We are telling our competitors, spare us the threat and intimidation and the fear you are selling to us,” Ruto said.

Ruto was speaking to residents at Madiwa, Kamukunji constituency.

“I want to tell Nairobi residents that this is the year that we must liberate ourselves from a politics of fear-mongering and intimidation. We will ensure that the transformational agenda that UDA has promised is fully implemented,” Ruto said.

The DP pledged to construct 100,000 houses and 20 new markets in Nairobi as part of his bottom-up economic blueprint once he becomes president.

“We will employ 400,000 youths to take part in the construction of the new units as we plan to move the people of Nairobi from the slums to the modern houses which will have enough water and a proper sewage system.

“We also don’t want our small-scale traders to continue suffering because they have to sell their wares under the scorching sun or the rains, and sometimes they are harassed by the County Council askaris,” he said.

Ruto further pledged a Ksh100 billion kitty for projects that will create employment opportunities for over four million youths who are out of school.

“Our first step is to ensure that we set aside Sh100 billion for housing, agro-processing, value addition and manufacturing,” he said.

“We are not interested in constitutional amendments to create space for politicians.”