Ruto terms NASA boycott extortion ploy

Jubilee leaders and supporters took to social media platforms to castigate the call by NASA to its supporters to boycott products of three big companies, terming it “criminal.”

NASA MPs Friday morning advised supporters of its leader Raila Odinga to boycott Safaricom, Brookside Dairies and Bidco, describing them as monopolies and cartels funding the Jubilee administration.

However, Jubilee leaders claimed Raila was seeking to extort the targeted companies and others. “That companies have to “donate” to supremo to avoid listing in the brazen & bizarre extortion racket- styled” economic boycott “? Criminal!” Deputy President William Ruto tweeted.

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“As GoK we advise Bidco to reject extortion and continue its ksh 20B expansion programme that will increase to 12500 Kenyans working there. As GoK we ask all companies to continue to partner with Kenyans , pay taxes ONLY to KRA and reject the extortion scheme-styled “e-boycott”.

Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkoment tweeted: “NASA Leaders led by Tinga soliciting bribes from companies to avoid naming them in the boycott list. It’s not boycott they are just broke.”

Thirdway Alliance candidate in this year’s election, Dr Ekuru Aukot, who has in the recent past parted ways with Raila, also railed against the Opposition formation.

“As the ‘official’ opposition leader I will be launching the real Resistant Movement .Ignore and now RESIST his Kalongolongo,” he tweeted.

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ODM Communications Director Philip Etale advised NASA supporters who were wondering how to boycott Safaricom’s popular M-Pesa service to instead embrace Airtel Money.

“We advise our members who use @SafaricomLtd #MPESA services to switch to @AIRTEL_KE Money. The service is the same,” he wrote. However, Murkomen called their bluff, tweeting: “It is easy. We will just wait for them to migrate to Airtel then we buy it.”

NASA MPs yesterday begun porting their Safaricom lines to take up those of its rival, Airtel, even though they said supporters have until next Friday to make the switch.