Elders from Trans Nzoia demand Deputy President William Ruto apologises to the communities over his remarks on Defence CS Eugene Wamalwa.
The community elders labelled Ruto's remarks well below the expected standards of a presidential candidate.
Speaking in Kitale on Wednesday, the elders maintained that such sentiments can trigger violence before, during and after elections.
"The DP owes Wamalwa an apology because he never knows who will vote for him. We need to be careful because this tongue can be very dangerous as we have seen in the past," said the former minister of Forestry and Wildlife Noah Wekesa.
Elders added that Ruto went against the norms of luyha culture by calling Wamalwa a woman, terming it demeaning to the community.
This comes after Ruto accused Wamalwa of being ungrateful.
Ruto, who spoke in Trans Nzoia during his campaign tour, argued that despite helping him land a cabinet position in the Jubilee government, the CS has since turned against him.
The DP, who was responding to Wamalwa over his recent claim that Ruto nearly slapped him, took a swipe at the CS saying “In our community, we do not slap women, we respect them.”
He said Wamalwa, who has since ganged up against him with his opponents, would be jobless if it were not for him.
On Tuesday, during his tour of Trans Nzoia country, Ruto said, "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 in and gave him the ministerial job because I formed Jubilee with President Kenyatta, otherwise he would be nowhere. Who is he talking as?”
But the CS dismissed the claims, saying that the DP was opposed to his appointment to the Cabinet in 2018.
The remarks by the DP come after CS Wamalwa accused Ruto of almost slapping him at a rally in Kakamega last Friday.
"I want to tell you today, that even I Eugene Wamalwa your son, almost got slapped by that guy. He told me to get out of his government and hand in resignation letter the following day,” he said.
The CS made the statement noting how he had kept it a secret for so long.
