Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party leader Raila Odinga has dismissed claims by Deputy President William Ruto that he is a project of the Mount Kenya Foundation.
Raila who attended Azimio campaign in Thika on Saturday said his association with the Mount Kenya Foundation is to seek partnership for economic growth.
According to Raila, the members of the foundation, who are notable businessmen from the Mount Kenya region also deserve to be engaged on how to create more wealth in a bid to help pull up more people from poverty.
“When you create more wealth, this translates to better salaries, and more taxes to the government, hence better service provision,” said Raila.
The former Prime Minister said China used the same model to uplift 300 million people from poverty to middle class.
Ruto has been hitting out at Raila over his association with Mount Kenya Foundation, claiming that members of the foundation were out to force Raila down the throats of voters from the region.
Raila was at Mount Kenya University to attend Azimio forum organized by youths from the region.
He said he will continue to engage different stakeholders, in what he termed as diagnosing what ails each sector so that he can prescribe the best medicine when he gets to statehouse.
“I am not looking for followers, but partners,” he said.
Raila also hit out at Ruto allies over the ‘Madoadoa’ utterances, saying every Kenyan is a settler in this country, and no one should be considered an outcast in any part of the country they live.