Deputy President William Ruto has once again explained the circumstances that led to his remarks in a leaked audio, where he talks about how he almost slapped President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Speaking in Kithirune, Central Imenti, in Meru County on Monday, the DP said that there was no way he was going to let Raila Odinga take the presidency away from Uhuru.
"Ata kama nilimlazimisha Uhuru Kenyatta awe rais, iko Makosa? Watu wa Azimio wacheni Ujinga. Wanazungusha record ooh Ruto, ooh alikua analazimisha Uhuru Kenyatta awe Rais. Ata mngekua mimi, mngekubali Uhuru atuwache kwa mataa na vile tulikua tumemsukuma?" he posed.
This loosely translates to, "Even if I forced Uhuru Kenyatta to be President, is there a problem? Azimio supporters should stop this nonsense. They are spreading a recording saying that Ruto forced Uhuru to be president. If you were me, would you have accepted Uhuru to abandon us with the way we had pushed him?"
The Second in command added that he campaigned for Uhuru in his 2017 presidential bid more than the president.
"I used to wake up, hold three campaigns before the President woke up because he was my friend and there is no way I would let Raila take that seat away from him," Ruto added.
He asked if Azimio supporters wanted the people that had woken up at 4 am to vote for Uhuru's re-election to let their efforts wash away.
"We are the people who woke up early to vote for the President. People of Meru would you want me to allow Uhuru to leave the seat we had given him for Raila?" Ruto posed.
His clarification follows a leaked audio in which the DP is said to have claimed that he would have slapped President Kenyatta had he not been the President.
This was because Uhuru wanted to abandon the repeat elections after the Supreme Court nullified their win.
The alleged remarks of the DP have attracted numerous criticism from Azimio leaders and a section of Kenyans.
The Azimio camp has also leveraged the remarks in campaigning against the DP.
