President Uhuru Kenyatta will on Wednesday come face-to-face with his rebellious deputy William Ruto during Mashujaa Day celebrations as the 2022 succession war intensifies.
Ruto, who has served as Uhuru’s deputy since 2013, has irretrievably fallen out with his boss and has aggressively intensified his 2022 presidential campaigns.
The President has, on the other hand, made it clear that Ruto is unfit to succeed him, launching an elaborate game plan to stop his State House bid.
David Mugonyi, DP's communication secretary, said Ruto will attend the event because it is “a national function”.
“The Deputy President will attend the event in Kirinyaga on Wednesday because it is a national event in the country’s calendar,” he told the Star.
ODM leader Raila Odinga, seen as Uhuru's preferred successor, and a host of other opposition luminaries will also grace the occasion
Raila's spokesperson Dennis Onyango confirmed to the Star that the ODM boss will honour a state invitation to attend the event.
Ruto has not seen eye to eye with Uhuru since the June 1 Madaraka Day celebrations in Raila’s Kisumu backyard.
Ruto has in recent weeks said he helped Uhuru and Raila ascend to power only for them to gang up against him.
On August 23, Uhuru openly asked the DP to quit government, if he is dissatisfied with its performance instead of critising it from within.
"The honourable thing is that if you are not happy with it, step aside and allow those who want to move on to do so and take your agenda to the people," Uhuru said.
"You can't have your cake and eat it. You can’t on one hand say I am not going and at the same time that you don’t agree."
Ruto then dismissed the President’s call, insisting he is a man “on a mission” with “no room for retreat or surrender”. He added that he was elected jointly with the President and with a specific mandate.
Uhuru and Ruto have met less than three times this year as they no longer read from the same script in the running of government affairs, a further pointer to their deteriorating relationship.
Uhuru, who has edged Ruto out of the government in what is seen as a move to cut his influence in government circles, has chosen new allies as he tries to manage his succession politics.
It would be interesting to watch the audience reactions, the speeches by Uhuru, Raila and Ruto after months of political attacks targeting each other as the 2022 succession hots up.
President Kenyatta landed at Sagana State lodge in Nyeri county, for a meeting with Kirinyaga leaders in what was seen as part of plan to break the ice ahead of the national fete tomorrow.
He urged Kirinyaga leaders led by Governor Anne Waiguru to unite and work together to achieve faster development and prosperity for their county.
Uhuru also cautioned the leaders against politics of deceit and empty rhetoric, saying good leadership emphasises peace, cohesion and unity of the people as enablers of development.
Kirinyaga, Uhuru's political turf is part of the wider Mt Kenya vote basket where Ruto and Raila are tussling for supremacy.
Already, there has been tensions building among the political leaders from the county, with some alleging having been overlooked on the preparations for the country’s big day.
There have been protracted tussles between Governor Waiguru and Woman Representative Wangui Ngirici.
Waiguru has claimed having been sidelined by Interior PS Karanja Kibicho, who also hails from the county.
She has admitted that the ground has shifted to Ruto’s UDA party.
In a statement on Sunday, Waiguru said she hoped the leaders would be "civil" during the celebrations, which will be held at the Wang'uru Stadium in Mwea.
Despite the raging political war between Uhuru and Ruto, the DP will step out to execute his duty and invite his boss to address the nation as he has done in the last nine years.
The President is expected to highlight his achievements for the last nine years as he wraps up his final term in office.
“I think the President will take a big chunk of his speech to outline what he has been able to deliver in the last nine years given this is his last Mashujaa Day,” Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu said.
The vocal pro-Uhuru lawmaker said the President will also talk about peace and stability of the country as well as enumerate his legacy projects.
The 2022 succession, the next steps after the collapse of the Building Bridges Initiative, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the status of legacy projects could as well be in Uhuru’s speech.
Speaking in Kirinyaga yesterday, Uhuru said the various multi-billion development projects being implemented in the area among them the Sh.8.5 billion Thiba Dam will help transform the economy of both the county and the country.
“We have fulfilled these projects because of the cooperation and peace among leaders, which has ensured that we not only transform the lives of the residents of Kirinyaga but also all citizens of Kenya,” the President told area leaders
“Our rice farmers are now getting better prices for their produce. With Thiba Dam, we will increase rice-farming acreage to meet the local demand. We need to grow and eat what comes from our country,” he added.
Despite Waiguru saying she has been sidelined in the planning, she read a memorandum on behalf of the Kirinyaga leaders.
She thanked the President for his visionary leadership, which she said had helped transform the lives of Kirinyaga residents through the various projects implemented by the national government.
The governor said the ongoing dualing of Kenol-Sagana-Marua highway, the construction of Kutus-Kianyaga-Kiamutugu-Githure and Karima-Kianjege-Mukangu roads as well as Nyamidi Bridge will enhance mobility in the region.
“This good interconnectivity to urban centres has invigorated business and opened up the county tourism in the beautiful scenery and tours, especially for Mt Kenya and Aberdare tourism circuit,” she said.
The President is also expected to highlight the fate of his process to unite the country and address inequalities given that the courts stopped the BBI.
He has previously used national celebrations to make a case for the BBI.
In June while addressing Jamhuri Day celebrations in Kisumu days after the High Court had declared the process unconstitutional, Uhuru took issue with the Judiciary accusing the judges of standing on the way of the wishes of Kenyans.
“From nullification of a presidential election in 2017 to an attempt to stop the will of the people as expressed through the BBI, the Judiciary has tested our constitutional limits,” Uhuru said.
He went on, “If BBI were to be stopped, who carries the burden of choice? On whose shoulders will ethnic majoritarianism rest? And who will carry the burden of losing 30 per cent of our national budget every five years due to the toxic politics that BBI seeks to resolve?”
