The political war between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto escalated on Friday after the ruling Jubilee Party announced the beginning of a process to kick out the DP as the deputy leader over claims of “attempted power-grab” in the absence of the Head of State.
Even though the two Jubilee leaders have not been in direct public confrontation, some words which have slipped out illustrate the underlying tensions between them as their foot soldiers engage on toxic public spats.
The party’s National Management Committee (NMC), following an urgent consultative meeting, according to party secretary-general Raphael Tuju, banned Dr Ruto from using Jubilee Party headquarters for his 2022 campaign meetings.
“The deputy party leader as a self-declared presidential candidate for 2022 will not be allowed to use the party headquarters as a centre of operationalisation of his 2022 campaign and to use the centre for intimidation of any potential opponent or party staff,” Mr Tuju announced during a press conference at Jubilee headquarters in Pangani, less than 24 hours after the DP hosted his Tangatanga troops at the facility.
Consequently, Mr Tuju, whose statement according to party insiders was sanctioned by the President himself on Thursday night, disclosed that the NMC had since recommended to the National Executive Committee (NEC) that the “DP ceases to be deputy party leader.”
This, he noted, comes after the DP opened the “so called Jubilee Asili offices that are reserved for him and his allies until such a time that this development of Jubilee Asili is discussed at the NEC”.
Mr Tuju pointed out that the DP’s fate as the Jubilee deputy party leader now lies with NEC, which, he noted, can be convened any time the President – who is the party leader -- deems appropriate.
But Tangatanga lawmakers who accompanied the DP to a burial in Nakuru County yesterday hit back at Mr Tuju terming his plans a ‘dream’.
Whereas DP Ruto steered clear of the deepening wrangles in the ruling party, his right-hand man Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen ignited the fire, demanding for the dismissal of Mr Tuju and Mr Murathe.
“We want President Kenyatta to fire Raphael Tuju and David Murathe, because these are the divisive characters determined to rock the party. We are warning Tuju against issuing empty threats. How can a man who is just a custodian of the party, threaten to expel the deputy party leader? Tuju cannot stop us from accessing Jubilee offices, we shall be there any time we want. We put him there, we are the reason why he is the Jubilee SG. Jubilee Party is ours and we are ready to restore sanity in the party," said Murkomen.
On Thursday, the DP stormed Jubilee headquarters and held a boardroom meeting without notice with more than 20 MPs and senators allied to his Tangatanga faction of the ruling party.
In a terse statement yesterday, Mr Tuju, who was flanked by the party’s legal affairs boss Frank Mwendanyi, Eala director Steve Mwanga, Eala member Mpuru Aburi, Ms Gloria Ndekei (director in-charge of women affairs) and Antony Kaara (director in0charge of Nyeri), termed the meeting as an “attempted power-grab in the absence from the country of the party leader – President Uhuru Kenyatta.”
“In the run up to the events at the party headquarters on Thursday, we have witnessed in recent days the following that are attributable to deputy party leader, Hon William Ruto, that has been an exhibition of arrogance, insolence and disrespect of President Uhuru Kenyatta who is also the party leader of Jubilee. We have witnessed the unprovoked and inexplicable abuse of former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta by political allies of the deputy party leader and the subsequent response by Hon. Ruto that exhibited not an ounce of contrition,” Mr Tuju said.
“It was a surprise to see the deputy party leader emerge the following day unveiling and declaring his support for an independent candidate in contravention of the party position.”
On Monday, the DP gave a presidential event on Covid-19 a wide berth, attracting criticism from across the country.
“Kenyans were amazed by the obvious absence of the DP at the KICC during the Covid-19 conference with his seat remaining conspicuously empty throughout the event where he was included in the programme to make remarks and according to State Protocol, then invite the President to address the conference.”
“For such travesty, the only thing received from the DPs camp are tweets from his allies rubbing salt into the injury,” Mr Tuju said.
The political overtones that followed the embarrassing incident in which the DP’s seat was carried away in full glare of the congregants, echoed through the week. Several critics, led by Jubilee Party vice-chairman, Mr Murathe and Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi, accused the DP of disrespect and absconding his constitutional duty as the principal assistant of the Head of State.
However, the DP on Wednesday told off his “supervisors,” saying he had never failed to execute any responsibility accorded to him by President Kenyatta, in what could be interpreted to mean that other factors played a role in his absence from the event, rather than what others read to be defiance, disrespect or insubordination.
“Yesterday, a number of people charged at me saying I have not met my constitutional mandate as the DP. Let me be categorical that there is no assignment given to me by the President that I have not discharged with distinction. So, I ask those self-appointed supervisors of the DP to go and execute the mandate they were elected to do instead. The President, who is my boss is not complaining, in what capacity are you complaining?” said the DP during a meeting with women leaders at his Karen home.
State House spokesperson Kanze Dena said the DP was invited and confirmed attendance to the summit that discussed Kenya’s six-month battle with Covid-19. But Emmanuel Talam, the director of communications at the DP’s office, said the second in command was not invited.
A source told the Saturday Nation that there was miscommunication engineered by the event organisers, who asked Dr Ruto to participate in the conference virtually.
“The communication that reached the DP was that he would log in through credentials that were to be assigned, but never came. He was to speak as from 5.50pm and invite the President at 6pm,” said the source, who sought anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Amid pushing to have the log-in credentials sent, the DP reportedly received a call at the time he was meant to speak, and was asked why he was not at the venue to welcome the President. Alarmed by the confusion, he asked whether he should dash to the venue, but he risked keeping the President waiting, which would be disrespectful. Dr Mating’i, as the chair of the Cabinet Coordination Committee, took over.
“The DP has put up a brave face and avoided to react to the many jabs thrown his way, including being disconnected from the previous virtual meeting four minutes into his speech,” said the source.
The Covid-19 conference programme had listed DP Ruto as a speaker after ODM leader Raila Odinga and was to invite the President.
“State function programmes are done once someone has been invited and confirmed attendance. I don’t do the invites, but the information we have is that he was invited,” Ms Dena told the Daily Nation.
“I’ve no idea [why the programme showed he was scheduled to speak]. He’s rarely invited to Covid-19-related events. That’s on record. I don’t know about yesterday’s. But it would be interesting for anyone to suddenly realise that the DP is a stakeholder on matters of national importance,” Mr Talam said.
After the incident, Mr Murathe said Dr Ruto’s action was an indication that he was not only about to quit the ruling party, but also considering relinquishing his position as the DP.
“With the attacks he receives and the fact that we are holding on tightly to the party, he must be giving up,” said Mr Murathe, who has repeatedly said that the DP had no job because “his roles have been taken over by Dr Matiang’i”.
The DP has left nothing to guess about his intentions to be the Jubilee flag-bearer in the 2022 presidential race, something Mr Murathe, seen as Mr Kenyatta’s mouthpiece, says they will ensure it does not happen.
But even as the DP and State House communication teams traded words, Dr Ruto’s lieutenants led by Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot and his Nakuru counterpart Susan Kihika, said he had every right not to show up.
“Let us stop the hypocrisy. If William Ruto’s contribution counted, how come he has never been invited to government Covid-19 response meetings? Now you want him to join the Covid-19 millionaires in sharing their loot? We say no to sanitising the Kemsa thieves,” Mr Cheruiyot said.
“Was it also insubordination or disrespect that the DP was not invited to any of the Covid-19 conferences? Besides, the President is not complaining,” said Ms Kihika.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah, who was kicked out of the powerful National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee chairmanship, for reportedly associating with the DP, said it was wrong to expect the latter at the conference, “yet he has been sidelined during similar events in the past”.
“After deliberately keeping him out of their meetings since March, hoping to use the pandemic to shine, they want to use Ruto to sanitise their filth. The only achievement from the pandemic has been the Kemsa scandal,” Mr Ichung’wah said.
Political analyst Dismas Mokua yesterday argued that the political marriage between Kenyatta and Ruto had broken down and that the DP “was creating an environment for him to be kicked out so that he can use it as an excuse to form another party and secure sympathy and emotional support”.
“The two leaders are now reading from different hymn books. Jubilee is now for all intents and purposes dead because the two principal shareholders are pulling in two different directions. This confirms that Jubilee was anchored on the two leaders’ selfish interests and not Kenyan aspirations and interests,” Mr Mokua said.
“The Jubilee administration has suffered serious brand damage. Ruto wants to disassociate himself from the bleeding brand two years ahead of the election and re- brand himself. It must be noted that Ruto is responsible for Jubilee’s successes and failure. He now wants to associate himself with successes only.”
Mr Tuju revealed that the DP’s hustler political rallies in churches, markets and road sides were all pointers to a defiant deputy leader who had made up his mind to start early campaigns against the President’s advice.
“We have witnessed with sadness the very rude and unmitigated defiance in the free of this fervent wish and vision of our President by his constitutional principal assistant, the deputy president,” he said.
He criticised the DP for inviting “fowl mouth” legislators to the Jubilee headquarters “to give them a platform to increase polarisation in the party”.
“Indeed, that move of inviting MPs allied to him almost created an ugly confrontation with close to 40 MPs not allied to him who also wanted to storm the headquarters. It took skilful persuasion to prevail on the other group not to descend on the party headquarters for confrontation that may have turned ugly.”
He insisted that the Jubilee Party headquarters will no longer be allowed to become the theatre of conflict and confrontation by different factions.
Henceforth, Mr Tuju added that Dr Ruto “will no longer be allowed to use the party headquarters to make statements.
This came as President Kenyatta, who is on an official tour of France, was non-committal on his support for Dr Ruto in the 2022 election, arguing that his focus remained fulfilling his government’s agenda in the next two years.
“I have always maintained that we have an agenda as a government that we want to complete. We are two years from an election, and this is not the time to start campaigning,” he said in an apparent jab at DP Ruto, adding that his intention was to bring people together, and to ensure that the 2022 election does not lead to any crisis.
“It is for that reason that I reached out to the Opposition. Of, course there are some who feel that this reaching out is meant to sideline to Dr Ruto. There is nothing more to the contrary,” he said.
The President added that the handshake was meant to help the political class agree on those issues that divide them, giving Kenyans an opportunity in future, to choose a leader and have a system that is inclusive, with acceptable election results.
“So, anybody therefore who is going against that… I don’t say he (Dr Ruto) is going against this… but my prayer is that especially those in my political party, would work with me to help me achieve this for Kenya, and our people. I am hopeful that we shall work together towards this, even with my deputy,” he said, remaining non-committal on the question of backing DP Ruto.
“My commitment is to this handshake process… Peace, stability, prosperity for the Kenyan people. That is my priority. Once we are over that, and start talking about elective position, you can ask me that question of supporting Dr Ruto,” he said in an interview with France 24 Televison show host Marc Perelman,
Justus Ochieng, Anita Chepkoech and Allan Olingo.
