Deputy President William Ruto has been challenged to make himself president in the same way he claimed to have made Uhuru Kenyatta the Head of State.
While speaking on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Nairobi Senatorial candidate Edwin Sifuna claimed that if indeed Ruto played a significant role in Uhuru’s presidential victory in 2017, the second in command should prove it in the August polls.
“Mt Kenya voted for Jubilee in 2013 just because President Uhuru was at the top of the ticket. We want to see DP Ruto make himself president the way he has claimed to make President Uhuru, ” he said .
On Monday, the second in command publicly stated that the President owes him the presidential victory as Ruto had so keenly advocated for him in the October 2017 repeat elections.
However, Sifuna who doubles up as Secretary-General of the ODM party, argued that the main reason that Ruto and Uhuru secured the presidential ticket was because Uhuru was the presidential candidate.
He added that Uhuru’s presidential election was primarily due to his popularity in the mountain region, where he received the most votes.
“It is arguable that the only ticket that could have secured their bid was with Uhuru as the presidential candidate. So now we want to see this person that claims to have made Uhuru the president make himself president in 2022,” Sifuna said.
The SG also called out Ruto for double-speaking and unfairly criticizing the government while he still continues to receive a salary as the DP.
Sifuna labels this as immoral while saying the DP should acknowledge personal responsibility towards the failure of the Jubilee government.
Speaking on the fall out between the President and his deputy, Sifuna said the split began when Uhuru backed Raila instead of Ruto.
He claimed the anger Ruto has expressed towards his boss is because Uhuru did not reciprocate the support the Deputy showed him in 2017.
“It is in the public domain that William Ruto expected the President to back him in the 2022 elections but along the line, the president made a decision that his deputy was not the right person to succeed him,” Sifuna added.
