In a quiet upset of diplomatic protocol, Kenya's simmering leadership feud burst into the African Union's gilded corridors last week, as President William Ruto and former President Uhuru Kenyatta reportedly clashed in a closed-door meeting hosted by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Sanctioned by Great Lakes presidents, the high-stakes huddle aimed to defrost their mutual chill and revive stalled peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo's war-torn east—a theatre where Nairobi's steady hand has long been indispensable.
This exclusive reconstruction, drawn from fly-on-the-wall accounts by multiple aides, participants, and sources debriefed immediately after the closed-door Sunday evening meeting on the sidelines of the 39th African Union Summit, reveals not just personal barbs but profound implications for Kenya's global standing.
The trigger? A deceptively innocuous group photo capturing Ahmed sandwiched between the two Kenyan leaders—an image that went viral among Kenyans, dissected frame by frame. Mr Kenyatta's team broke the embargo first, posting it only after all parties awaited Ahmed's nod; Dr Ruto's official handles, tellingly, never followed suit.
President William Ruto (left) with former President Uhuru Kenyatta (right) and Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed on the sidelines of the 39th AU Summit in Addis Ababa.
Photo credit: Pool
To grasp the stakes, rewind to Kenya's outsized footprint in DRC stability. Since the 1990s, Nairobi has anchored regional security: hosting peace talks, dispatching East Africa Community troops to combat M23 insurgents and their allies, and sheltering millions of refugees.
The search for peace in the war-torn country has been a tripartite effort championed by the AU, EAC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Last year's deployment of Kenyan forces under the regional force underscored this—yet effectiveness hinges on unified political will. Enter Mr Kenyatta, a linchpin on the AU-EAC-SADC facilitation panel tasked with mediating in restive Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.
The AU presidents were concerned at the slow pace of progress. Then, after a secretariat investigation, it turned out that the animosity between the fourth and fifth presidents of Kenya was stalling it.
Protocol demands that Mr Kenyatta liaise seamlessly with Dr Ruto, passing on progress reports and information about any obstacles to the AU headquarters. However, their 'cold shoulders' have stifled this communication.
PM Ahmed, leveraging personal chemistry with both—forged through bilateral ties and shared Horn of Africa diplomacy—emerged as the ideal neutral. Sources describe his pitch: Reconcile or risk DRC's chaos spilling further, undermining Kenya's mediator mantle.
The backdrop pulses with domestic voltage. This Addis drama unfolded three weeks post a discreet State House sit-down between President Ruto and Mr Muhoho Kenyatta, Uhuru's sibling.
Politically inert on paper, Muhoho is the family's éminence grise, piloting a business empire spanning across sectors—a juggernaut rivalled by no other but the State.
President William Ruto (right) and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi, on August 1, 2025.
Photo credit: PCS
Mr Kenyatta, far from retreating into quiet retirement, has amplified his opposition play: open endorsements for Wiper boss Kalonzo Musyoka and ex-Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, fueling speculation of an anti-Ruto coalition in the run-up to next year's General Elections.
In the lead-up to the 2022 General Election, then President Uhuru snubbed his deputy, Dr Ruto, and backed opposition leader Raila Odinga as his preferred successor. Odinga died last October, but the president’s camp claims his predecessor is rallying an opposition coalition for a rematch in 2027.
Dr Ruto, midway through a term scarred by 2024's Gen Z protests—sparked by tax hikes, corruption scandals, and youth disenfranchisement—faces a gauntlet.
Those street storms, which paralysed Nairobi and nearly felled his government, exposed coalition cracks. Economic tremors persist: ballooning debt, inflation gnawing at hustlers' dreams, and floods ravaging Rift Valley farms. Re-election demands consolidation; a Kenyatta wildcard, whispering to opposition ranks, threatens to splinter the vote.
Dr Ruto's camp views Jubilee's revival as well as the appointment of Mr Musyoka as the Azimio coalition party leader—and Kenyatta's refusal to "retire gracefully"—as direct sabotage, timed to step up the onslaught at a time he faces another rebellion led by his former deputy Rigathi Gachagua in Mt Kenya, a region that propelled his 2022 upset.
Aides recount a room electric with grievance. Ruto led the charge: accusations of subversion hobbling his Kenya Kwanza administration.
“Dr Ruto confronted the former president with evidence of subversion. He denied undermining the Kenya Kwanza administration but didn’t hesitate to say that the government was not according him enough respect as a former head of state,” one insider detailed.
Echoes of 2024 abound: Ruto loyalists blame deep-pocketed elites for amplifying Gen Z rage via funding or optics. There was also the grievance about the 2023 post-election revolt by the opposition, then led by Raila. The resurgence of Azimio and a populist wave by a faction of ODM led by Secretary General Edwin Sifuna were other internal political activities cited as stoking suspicions within government.
Mr Kenyatta demurred: Party leadership as subversion? Absurd. "His party does not engage in violence," he reportedly countered, per sources. Exercising democratic rights can't equate to treason, he is said to have argued.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta (centre) with former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i (right) and Jeremiah Kioni during a Jubilee Party meeting in Murang’a County on November 7, 2025.
Photo credit: Martin Mwaura | Nation Media Group
Dr Ruto vented frustration at corralling a meddlesome predecessor. “The President told PM Abiy that he had done all within his powers to embrace Mr Kenyatta in retirement but all that had proved futile. He mentioned his trip to Ichaweri, Mr Kenyatta’s home in 2024 and many other attempts through his kin,” another source, tied to the Ethiopian side, elaborated.
The visit to Ichaweri in December 2024 came after the June-July 2024 Gen Z revolt that shook President Ruto’s government. The only other publicly acknowledged meeting by the two was at State House, Nairobi, in August last year on the sidelines of a regional security meeting.
After Dr Ruto assumed power in 2022, Mr Kenyatta accused his successor of freezing his retirement perks. A raid by state agents on the home of the retired president’s son worsened the already tense relations between the two close allies who served in the presidency together for the 10 years Mr Kenyatta was president.
President William Ruto receives the instruments of power from his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta after he took the oath of office at Moi International Sports Center, Kasarani on September 13, 2022.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Dr Ruto reportedly mentioned the former president’s younger brother, Muhoho, who was at State House last month, when he said that he had also tried to bury the hatchet with Mr Kenyatta through family members.
The younger Kenyatta was present at the Presidential Gold Awards presentation in his capacity as representative of the International Council of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, an event presided over by the president.
“I am happy to have my friend, the representative in our midst, Muhoho Kenyatta, here,” said Dr Ruto.
Contacted about details of the Addis talks, spokespersons of the two leaders denied knowledge.
State House's Munyori Buku deflected: “I am not aware there was a mediation meeting. I know president Ruto and former president Uhuru Kenyatta met together with PM Abiy. I have no details of what transpired because it was a closed meeting.”
Mr Kenyatta's camp pushed back hard. Spokesperson Kanze Dena expressed dismay: "Aiii surely!! Wasisalimiane...? Inakuwa analysis!! Acheni hizo." Translated: "Surely, do you mean that Uhuru and Ruto should not say hello to one another? The photo has become a point of analysis? Away with that please."
Their saga? A decade of tandem rule—Dr Ruto as deputy (2013-2022) on TNA/URP, then Jubilee banners—shattered in 2022. Mr Kenyatta's handshake with Raila betrayed his oath: “Mimi nitafanya zangu kumi, kisha kumi za William (I will rule for 10 years then hand over to William to also do 10 years).” State machinery then pummelled Ruto's allies: raids, prosecutions, frozen funding.
Then-President Uhuru Kenyatta (right) and his then-Deputy William Ruto during a Jubilee Party rally at Kasarani Stadium.
This is not the first attempt at reconciliation between the two. In 2024, when President Ruto decided to make peace with his former political ally-cum-bitter rival, Kenyatta, he chose to give goats as gifts during his visit to the retired president’s village home in Ichaweri, in the Gatundu South constituency.
He brought 12 goats with him, which Mr Kenyatta received in person on December 9. This was hailed as the clearest signal yet of the end of the hostilities that had begun around five years earlier.
The goats, which are highly symbolic domestic animals among the Kikuyu people, best illustrate President Ruto’s commitment to burying the hatchet with his former boss. However, this was not to be.
At the time, the Chairman of the Gikuyu Council of Elders, Wachira Kiago, said that goats are habitually slaughtered in Kikuyu ceremonies, with certain parts being shared to signify bonding.
"Goat meat is eaten by elders from both sides, and blessings are given," he said.
However, he said there is a distinction between goats given for rituals and those given as gifts.
‘If it is for the community, then elders from these communities must be involved, and the animals must be delivered to a specially chosen ground, forest or shrine. If it concerns the two men or their families, however, it is a private family affair,” he said.
A private meeting followed immediately, sparking political speculation. But Mr Kenyatta then attacked his successor during a Jubilee party meeting that installed Dr Matiang’i to the party’s leadership.
“Today, many of the past's gains have been eroded. Linda Mama and others have been replaced by new, untried and untested schemes. While we wait for these experiments to work, Kenyans suffer and our progress is stalled," Mr Kenyatta told the meeting of his Jubilee Party.
Addis unmasks the chasm: Kenya, once handshake herald, risks diplomatic diminishment if titans feud. DRC hangs in the balance; Ruto's 2027 survival too.
