President William Ruto has called for unity among leaders across the political divide.
Speaking in Homa Bay on Saturday, Ruto while responding to Governor Gladys Wanga remarks, said he was once part of ODM party leader Raila Odinga close circle.
He even went ahead and revealed that currently, Raila is his 'person'.
"Si ata nyinyi mnajua nilikuwa mtu wa baba. Ili raila aitwe former Prime Minister , hiyo kiti nani alimtafutia. Si ni mimi na watu wengine,"Ruto said.
"Sasa siku ile nilikuwa mtu wa baba, lakini sahi mimi ni rais, baba amekuwa mtu wangu," he added.
This loosely translates to: You people even know that I was Raila's person. For Raila to be called Prime Minister, it is I who looked for that seat. Myself and others
In the former days, I was Raila's person but now I'm the President and Raila has become my person.
The President was responding to Governor Wanga's remarks that Homa Bay people including herself are Raila's followers.
Ruto was the leader of the Kalenjin ethnic group in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party and was responsible for the party’s campaigns in Rift Valley Province in the lead up to the 2007 General Elections.
He was one of six individuals who formed the top decision making body of the ODM party called the Pentagon.
Others were the late Joseph Njaga, former Tourism CS Najib Balala, Raila, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Musalia Mudavadi.
Ruto, together with other ODM rebels left the Raila Odinga-led party before 2013.
They formed the United Republican Party, which entered into a coalition agreement with The National Alliance to form Jubilee.
Ruto was the main opponent for Raila in the August 2022 elections.
He however defeated Raila after garnerning 7.1 million votes against Raila's 6.9 million.
However, Raila Odinga rejected the results terming them "null and void" and promised a bruising battle at the Supreme Court.
The apex court, however, threw out the consolidated petition for lack of sufficient evidence even as the judges indicted Chebukati for having fallen short in some areas in administering the election.
In several events this year, Raila has called for anti-government protests.
However, on July 29, 2023 the Opposition Chief met President Ruto in a meeting.
This was the first time the two were meeting secretly after the elections.
On Wednesday, Raila Odinga revealed details of the secret meeting which was attended by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on July 29.
Raila disclosed that the former Nigerian president sat in the middle during the meeting which he said agreed on how to tackle the key issues that had been raised.
"We were only three in the room. There was Obasanjo, Ruto, and myself. Obasanjo was sitting in the middle, Ruto there, and I was here in one room. It took place not in the state house but on some other premises," Raila said during the interview.
