• During his campaigns, he made several claims of government officials being used to stop him from ascending to power.
• The claims were largely part of his campaign messaging across the country.
Image: PSCU
On Monday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission declared William Ruto the President-elect of the Republic of Kenya.
Prior to his election, Ruto was the Deputy President of Kenya.
During his campaigns, he made several claims of government officials being used to stop him from ascending to power. The claims were largely part of his campaign messaging across the country.
In some instances, Ruto would publicly call out some of these officials by name.
They included cabinet secretaries and senior ministry officials.
One particular ministry he called out was that of the Interior and Coordination of National Government led by Fred Matiang'i.
Ruto claimed that the CS and his principal secretary Karanja Kibicho were working day and night to intimidate his allies.
He alleged that these two, even worked with National Government Administration officials to cause violence and rig the August 9 election in favour of his main opponent Raila Odinga.
These will be part of the biggest casualties of President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration.
ICT CS Joe Mucheru and Peter Munya (Agriculture) were also actively on the campaign trail, speaking against William Ruto in many instances.
In some instances, they directly attacked the DP, referring to him as a 'corrupt man' with an appetite for grabbing land.
National Treasury CS Ukur Yatani, Eugene Wamalwa (Defence), Keriako Tobiko (Environment and Forestry) and Mutahi Kagwe (Health) all sided with Uhuru and on some occasions, took to the campaign trail to campaign for Raila.
Some of these CSs shelved their political ambitions to back a Raila Odinga bid, with the expectation that they would be rewarded.
Raphael Tuju, CS without a portfolio and James Macharia (Transport and Infrastructure) was also part of this group.
Other cabinet secretaries largely remained neutral and did not show which side of the political divide they leaned towards in the 2022 general election.
But Ruto, in his acceptance speech, assured his political enemies that he will not seek revenge against them.
“I'm acutely aware that our country is at the stage where we need all hands on deck. We do not have the luxury to look back, we do not have the luxury to point fingers, we have to work together for a prosperous Kenya,” he said.