Following the annulment of their 2017 election victory, William Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta got into a heated disagreement that almost escalated into a physical altercation, according to a leaked audio tape.
The audio recording, which features DP Ruto speaking to Kikuyu elders during a meeting on Friday at his official Karen residence in Nairobi, provides insight into the anxious moments that followed the Supreme Court’s historic decision.
Mr. Ruto said to the Kikuyu elders that President Kenyatta was so upset by the Supreme Court decision ordering a new election that he almost gave up the fight for a second term. It was only because of his tenacity that he didn’t give up.
A report by the Nation, indicates that President Kenyatta nearly gave up the fight for a second term in office, according to Mr. Ruto, who spoke to the Kikuyu elders.
It was only because of his insistence that he agreed to run again in the second election, which Raila Odinga, the presidential candidate of the opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa), boycotted.
The Deputy President, who has since split from his boss, claims that on September 1, 2017, following the Supreme Court’s judgment, he went to meet the President at State House and had a contentious conversation with him:
“So, ndiyo huyo… Oh, sasa, hii maneno, sijui nini, mimi sitaki, mimi nataki kuenda Ichaweri, sasa mimi sitaki, wacha tuachane na hii kitu.” (Here is the President and he says he is not keen on taking part in the repeat elections and that he wants to go to Ichaweri (his home village in Kiambu County), that we should abandon this thing.”
“Mimi nikamwangalia, nikamwambia ‘wewe’! Ni vile tu nilikua na heshima, ningemchapa kofi. Ati sisi tuache?” ( I looked at him and told him ‘you!’ It’s only that I was being respectful, I would have slapped him. How could we just quit?)
One of the Kikuyu elders that paid DP Ruto a visit at his Karen home was Captain Kung’u Muigai, a distant relative of President Kenyatta.
Only those with official invitations were permitted in the meeting, as is customary for admittance to the State House and the DP’s official residence. The recording’s contents were confirmed by meeting attendees, including Capt. Muigai and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria.
“I had told the president to take a keen interest… He assured me that he was in-charge and everything was fine,” said DP Ruto.
“In reality, the door had been left wide open and some people went in and spoilt everything. Isn’t that so?” he posed.
The Deputy President further claims to have told President Kenyatta that there was no way the ruling Jubilee party could have lost the polls.
According to the Nation’s report, Ruto was heard telling the elders:
“Ati tutoke hapa?’ Hapana, hapana, hapana. Na ni kura tumeshinda? Kwani alikua ametushinda wapi? Tumeshinda wabunge, tumeshinda ma governor, tumeshinda senators wengi—tumefanya hiyo kazi yote. (I told him there was no way we could just quit when we had won the election. We had more MPs, more governors and senators. We had done a lot of work),” Mr Ruto told his guests.
The facts of the tape of the deputy president’s address were confirmed by Mr. Muigai and Mr. Kuria, who were both present at the meeting on Friday.
“That came up and he was very clear that Uhuru was so disappointed and discouraged and actually thought about not participating in the repeat election. Personally, I can attest to that. That is true. It is Ruto who told him ‘No, you can’t do that. You cannot walk away like we have been defeated’. I am in very close proximity to both of them. It is Ruto who said that they could not just quit,” said Mr Muigai.
