Deputy President William Ruto’s political future depends on his support for the Handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko said yesterday.
The controversial Jubilee politician, and a key member in an outfit that claims to speak for Wanjiku, cautioned Ruto against disrespecting the President and attacking the former Prime Minister.
He asked Ruto to make a bold move and sort out his political differences with Raila “which seem to have taken a personal dimension if he ever hopes to ascend to the powerful seat”.
“I am appealing to my brother Ruto to sit down with Raila, and if that proves to be difficult, we can seek help from religious leaders or even the President himself,” said Sonko, who is seen as a Ruto ally, but has distanced himself from the rival party groupings Tanga Tanga and Kieleweke.
Support Handshake
The governor, who was speaking yesterday on K24’s PunchLine show, also warned Ruto allies’ against criticism of the Handshake and attacks on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), a process born out of the truce between Uhuru and Raila.
He, however, observed that all was not gloom for the DP, especially if he agrees to support the Handshake and the BBI.
“But if he challenges the Handshake, criticises the BBI and defies his boss, then he is setting himself up for a very tough future. If he supports the Handshake, and the BBI, we would have no problem supporting him when Uhuru’s term is over,” said Sonko.
He blamed the divisions in the ruling party to bickering between Tanga Tanga and Kieleweke teams.
The latest pronouncement by Sonko, who only recently was viewed as a backer of the so-called “hustler-nation” espoused by Ruto, is an about-turn of his previous approach. Sonko has been one of the key politicians behind the crusade to have Ruto succeed Uhuru in 2022.
The President has expressed his opposition about politicking by Jubilee politicians, with analysts, saying the anger is aimed at Ruto who has been accused of campaigning for 2022 in the guise of launching projects across the country.
On Thursday, for instance, Uhuru hit out at politicians who he accused of advancing the narrative that the 2022 election will pit “dynasties” and “hustlers”. “When you hear people out there, they talk about ‘Oh, this person, dynasty this, oh dynasty this’…it is not about that,” he said at the Holy Family Basilica in Nairobi, during the 41 anniversary of the death of first President Jomo Kenyatta.
Those behind the “dynasties versus hustlers” political duel in 2022 are backers of Ruto, who accuse the President of ganging up against their man with sons of the country’s former top political leaders— Raila, son to Kenya’s first Vice President Oginga Odinga, Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, who is son to Kenya’s second President Daniel arap Moi and Amani National Congress party leader Musalia Mudavadi, who is the son of once powerful Local Government minister Moses Mudavadi.
Noting the differences in Jubilee’s leadership are no longer a secret, Sonko said the only viable option is for the DP to support the Handshake.
Bad blood
The Nairobi governor said the bad blood between Ruto and Raila does not bode well for the country in the next poll. “There is a lot of confusion and panic. We even do not know what would happen in 2022,” he said.
Despite the likelihood of existence of a Memorandum of Understanding between the President and his deputy over succession, Sonko said the chances of such a deal holding are minimal. “Let him sort out his differences with Raila because he and Uhuru had very serious differences after the 2007 elections yet they managed to bridge their differences and even won the elections together in 2013,” Sonko said.
He exonerated Raila from accusations of creating confusion in Jubilee, and instead accused Tanga Tanga and Kieleweke politicians of poisoning the political environment with premature campaigns.
