• At the same time, Ruto used the opportunity to express how loyal he has been to President Uhuru Kenyatta saying their relationship started in 1998.
• The DP also conceded that the Jubilee party was facing its own challenges but played down the concerns.
Image: FILE
Deputy President William Ruto says that he is sure that President Uhuru Kenyatta will support a Jubilee candidate in 2022.
Speaking to NTV on Thursday night, Ruto said that Uhuru made a public promise to support him but the DP never asked for it.
"If that candidate is William Ruto, Uhuru Kenyatta will support me. If it is anyone else, Uhuru Kenyatta will support that candidate and I will also support that person," Ruto said.
The DP added that he never gave Uhuru any conditions for his support in 2013 and 2017.
At the same time, Ruto used the opportunity to express how loyal he has been to President Uhuru Kenyatta saying their relationship started in 1998.
"When Uhuru Kenyatta lost the elections in 2002, we were 50 MPs at State House as the results trickled in. But by the time we got to Serena for the concession speech, there were only three MPs and William Ruto was one of them," Ruto said.
According to Ruto, their pre-election agreement was based on two strands and was not about winning or losing the election.
"We agreed that we must get rid of the politics of ethnicity once and for all in Kenya. The second thing that we agreed on was that we must form a political party big enough to carry the aspirations of small communities and small communities. And we have achieved that," Ruto said.
There has been speculation that Uhuru would not support Ruto at the next election especially after the handshake with ODM leader Raila Odinga.
Uhuru during the campaigns declared that this was his last term before Uhuru takes over for another 10 years of Jubilee.
However, the President has kept off the matter since being sworn in for a second term even as some of his supporters go against Ruto.
Ruto also addressed the issue of Uhuru's possible extension of time at the helm with the creation of a prime minister position as proposed by the BBI.
The DP said that he has never heard and does not believe that Uhuru has any plans to extend his stay in office in any form.
Ruto also said that he was not concerned about succession politics but focused on the delivery of the mandate given to Jubilee by Kenyans.
"There is time for succession. The opportunity will come and we will deal with it at that time," Ruto said.
The DP also conceded that the Jubilee party was facing its own challenges but played down the concerns.
"The Jubilee Party has issues. We now have camps calling themselves Tangatanga and Kieleweke. We cannot pretend that these issues are there and they need to be addressed," Ruto said.