President William Ruto (right) and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi, on August 1, 2025.
President William Ruto’s meeting and tour with former President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi, on Friday has stirred mixed reactions from key political players, igniting debate over its significance ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Referring to his predecessor as “my good friend,” President Ruto shared photos of the meeting and the private tour of the place Mr Kenyatta called home for 10 years. This came after those allied to Dr Ruto had shared images of the two men in a sort of bromance similar to their first term in the Jubilee administration from April 2013 — hearty handshakes, booming laughter, and hugs. The renewed sense of camaraderie comes after President Ruto’s unexpected visit to Mr Kenyatta’s Ichaweri home in December 2024, but things seemed to have cooled off months later.
While the State House tour appeared leisurely, political observers argue it was loaded with symbolism. Mr Kenyatta had been invited to attend a joint East African Community and Southern African Development Community meeting on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The two leaders, once close allies before their dramatic fallout ahead of the 2022 elections when Mr Kenyatta backed Raila Odinga for the top job, remain at odds over the future of Kenya’s political leadership. Mr Kenyatta is said to be fronting his former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i to kick out President Ruto from power in 2027. There is also the complex situation in Mt Kenya, where the ex-president comes from, as former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua pushes to control the region’s vote. Even though Mr Kenyatta rarely comments publicly on national issues, he is still considered influential, especially in the Mountain, and his powerful family’s backing of any political camp can never be taken for granted.
Unresolved tensions
Insiders within both camps hint at unresolved tensions, with some suggesting Mr Kenyatta could be quietly seeking a role in shaping the 2027 succession, despite his public retreat from frontline politics.
His presence at State House, they say, could be part of a broader strategy to reassert influence in a changing political landscape.
“There weren’t much discussions. We understand that the international community seeks to have Uhuru (Mr Kenyatta) play a major regional role in terms of peace, but is concerned about his frosty relationship with President Ruto,” a State House official, who spoke in confidence as he is not authorised to comment publicly about such events, told the Nation.
He added: “Since he is the one who requested a tour around State House to acclimatise with the new changes, we believe he was putting his best foot forward to the international community to see that he has no hard feelings against his successor and is therefore ripe for any regional security role.”
However, Mr Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party National Chairman Torome Saitoti dismissed the speculation that the former president’s State House visit was political.
President William Ruto (right) and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi, on August 1, 2025.
“He was there on a very different meeting and people should not read much into it,” Mr Saitoti, who is one of the players in the opposition, told the Nation.
Calls, texts and WhatsApp messages to Jubilee vice-chairman David Murathe — who initially promised to get back to us — and secretary-general Jeremiah Kioni went unanswered. The two are close allies of Mr Kenyatta.
But Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei was beaming with joy about the visit, saying it was a clear signal of President Ruto's growing national acceptance and an early sign of a 2027 victory.
“The presence of Uhuru (Mr Kenyatta) at State House with President Ruto has made most tribalists and bigots mad because they don't want an inclusive, united and cohesive Kenya. This also confirms that 'tutam' (re-election of the president) is crystal clear now for President Ruto’s administration,” said Mr Cherargei.
The most uncharacteristic — and scathing — attack on Mr Kenyatta, however, came from National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, the immediate former chairman of Mr Odinga’s ODM party.
Mr Mbadi dismissed the ex-president’s renewed visibility, saying he lost his credibility after unsuccessfully backing Mr Odinga in 2022.
Misleading the Opposition
“The former president should know his time is over. Neither President Ruto nor Raila Odinga should be listening to him,” Mr Mbadi said in Homa Bay on Friday evening.
He accused Mr Kenyatta of misleading the opposition and “abandoning” Mr Odinga during the 2022 presidential contest.
President William Ruto when he paid a courtesy call to former President Uhuru Kenyatta in Gatundu on December 9, 2024.
"He lied to us that he would give us the presidency when he had the instruments of power. Instead, he handed it to President Ruto right before our eyes," said Mr Mbadi.
He repeated similar sentiments on Saturday at Osakwe SDA Church in Karachuonyo, where he once again voiced strong reservations about the former president’s re-emergence for the second day running.
“Anytime we asked for positions (after 2018 Handshake), we were being told to wait for a full government come 2022. When that time reached, he (Uhuru) handed over the State House key to President William Ruto. It was very painful. I locked myself in the house for a week. Ruto now has the key, and he (Uhuru) is trying to tell us that he will snatch it from Ruto and give it to us. Is this an ally you can trust?” said Mr Mbadi.
The Treasury Cabinet Secretary added that the current arrangement between UDA and ODM must be preserved.
“This broad-based government is God-sent. We are all Kenyans, and the government is ours. In 2027, UDA and ODM must work together, if not for anything else but for unity in this country. We don’t want people who think they are more Kenyans than others,” he said.
As Mr Mbadi scoffed at Mr Kenyatta, those in the opposition were weighing their options, but were still dismissive of what any political deal between the duo could mean.
Former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) rubbished its significance, with DCP Deputy Party leader Cleophas Malala dismissing it as “mere optics.”
“We know Uhuru was at State House for the regional peace mission in the DRC, and as a former president, he has every right to walk around State House. But we are not shaken by such optics, for us, we are keen on what Kenyans are saying and want. That meeting cannot salvage Ruto from serving only one term,” Mr Malala told the Nation.
Multimedia University lecturer Prof Gitile Naituli offered a more cynical view of the recent developments. He believes Mr Kenyatta and Dr Ruto have never really fallen out, and there is no surprise if there is a “re-union”.
“They’ve been together all along. We are just seeing Jubilee Phase Two,” he said.
Back to ODM, and Mr Mbadi’s view, while scathing, does not seem to represent the overall standing, with other ODM leaders cautiously weighing their options.
Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo stated that while the Orange party supports the current administration in the interest of national stability, it may not commit to that position come 2027.
“We have agreed, for the purposes of stabilising the country, to stand with the broad-based arrangement up to 2027. But that does not mean the support will be automatic in the next election,” the National Assembly Minority Whip said.
Ms Odhiambo also floated the idea that ODM could ask Dr Ruto to support Mr Odinga in 2027, adding, “It is a matter of negotiation.”
After the 2022 elections, Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta have charted divergent political paths— Mr Odinga warming up to Dr Ruto through the bipartisan dialogue process, and Mr Kenyatta retreating into silence, only to resurface recently amid talk of new alignments.
Mr Odinga himself has recently, during an interview with the Nation also dismissed claims that he benefited from his political truce with Mr Kenyatta, saying he did not secure any government positions or personal gains during their handshake era.
The ODM leader said that, contrary to the perception that he struck a backroom deal with Mr Kenyatta after the 2018 handshake, the partnership was purely about pushing for national reforms—not personal or political rewards for himself or his allies.
"I did not get anybody appointed in government. None of my people were appointed in Uhuru's government. What did I get? I got nothing," said the ODM leader.
He clarified that President Kenyatta's only support came during the 2022 General Election, a gesture Mr Odinga said was public and political—not transactional.
"Uhuru was going. He said he would support me, and he did. That was the only thing that happened. So, how did I compromise with Uhuru? I did not compromise with him," Mr Odinga explained.
The UhuRuto State House tour debate was also abuzz in social media.
Political commentator and lawyer Wahome Thuku, allied to Mr Gachagua, cast doubt on the official visit narrative and suggested deeper political undertones.
“Two things. One, don’t tell me that since September 2022, Uhuru Kenyatta—who lives across the fence—has never been to State House. Remember, Ruto visited Ichaweri. Remember, there has been a recent claim by Raila that he talked to Uhuru before the bloodbath handshake,” he said.
