Uhuru would have sacked Ruto if not for security of tenure, Murathe says
Jubilee Party vice-chairman David Murathe.
Jubilee Party vice-chairperson David Murathe has said that only the constitution is keeping Deputy President William Ruto on his job.
Had it not been that the DP’s position is anchored in the supreme law, he said, President Uhuru Kenyatta could have dismissed his deputy a long time ago.
“Remember in our current dispensation, it’s only the Deputy President who is anchored in the Constitution who can’t be fired. So you can make Kalonzo today the Chief Minister and fire him tomorrow. It’s only the Deputy President, otherwise the President would have fired Ruto long time ago,” Mr Murathe said.
Speaking on Spice FM on Friday morning, Mr Murathe said that if the DP’s position had no security of tenure, the President could have acted differently.
He also said the reason the President is in the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition as chairperson of its council is to ensure that there is trust among party partners.
Comes in as a guarantor
“It is the distrust and mistrust in the political class and he comes in as a guarantor,” he said.
Mr Murathe’s remarks come in the context of several changes that were witnessed in Mr Kenyatta’s administration in his two terms.
In his second term, the President embraced opposition chief Raila Odinga through the March 2018 Handshake, a move that did not go down well with his deputy.
DP Ruto’s stand angered the President, prompting him to come up with a strategy to control both the National Assembly and the Senate by working closely with opposition parties.
The President also made changes in his Cabinet, firing Dr Ruto’s close allies and removing others from National Assembly committees.
The partnership between the President and Mr Odinga led to the formation of the Azimio coalition.
Mr Odinga is the coalition’s flag-bearer in the August 9 General Election.
