Lang’ata Member of Parliament (MP) Phelix Odiwuor alias Jalang’o has rubbished claims by his party ODM that he and other lawmakers who visited President William Ruto at State House on Tuesday betrayed their party leader Raila Odinga.
Speaking on Spice FM Wednesday, the former comedian said the meeting was development-oriented and not political.
“The President personally called me to attend the meeting at State House and I accepted the invitation. The agenda of the meeting was heavily development. We discussed projects that the President promised to implement when he visited Luo Nyanza last month,” Jalang’o said.
He added: “When the President was visiting my area for the first time for the affordable housing project, I called my party leader, and Baba told me, if it’s anything development, go ahead, and be part of it.”
Jalas maintained he is committed to ODM and his support for Raila is unwavering.
“It’s wrong to claim that nearly ten of us met the president at State House to discuss party leadership and [political] agenda. The president did not interrogate our support for Raila Odinga, neither were the ongoing Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya rallies mentioned. Our discussions were centred on development,” said Jalang’o.
The former Kiss FM radio presenter also spoke about a picture of him and Ruto having a private chat on the sidelines of the State visit.
Jalango said Ruto was confirming to him that Sh50 million had been allocated for the completion of the Lang’ata Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institute.
“About that photo trending on social media, the President was telling me that the Langata TVET project is on and an extra Sh.50 million has been allocated for its completion,” he explained.
Jalang’o stated that nothing will stop him from working for his constituents by engaging the government of the day.
“Do you think I will stop working because I am in the opposition? If today I was at a political rally convened by my Party leader Raila Odinga, and there’s no running water in Lang’ata, my constituents won’t care about my remarks at the rally. But if there’s tap water in their homesteads and I miss Raila’s rally, I don’t think they’d take issue with my absence at the political rally.” He reasoned.
“All said and done, the people of Kenya want development,” Jalango said.
