Ruto wanted Uhuru to fire me, Wamalwa now claims

Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa has said that it was President Uhuru Kenyatta who appointed him to the Cabinet even as his deputy seemed unwilling.

While responding to Deputy President William Ruto on Tuesday, the CS said that the DP wanted him fired from the Cabinet in 2018, immediately after his appointment.

He said that because of the stand-off, he was sworn in weeks after others had taken their oath of office.

"President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed me minister but William Ruto was opposed to my appointment," he said. 

"I stayed out of office for weeks because Ruto didn't want me in the cabinet. I was sworn into the office alone and I'm the only CS whose swearing-in ceremony he failed to attend."

He said in response to DP Ruto's remarks on Tuesday, where he claimed  that he picked the CS from oblivion and appointed him a minister.

Speaking during a campaign rally in Trans Nzoia, Ruto said had it not been for him, Wamalwa would be a nobody.

He claimed that the CS was ungrateful even after his efforts to have him in Uhuru's Cabinet.

"Tell that man to stop going wild, if it wasn't for me he would be roaming the streets. I am the one who brought him and gave him the ministerial job because I formed Jubilee with President Uhuru Kenyatta, otherwise he would be nowhere," Ruto had said.

The second in command's remarks followed claims by CS Wamalwa that Ruto almost slapped him and Interior CS Fred Matiang'i.