Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has once again hit out at critics coming for him over his 'yes sir' nature, this time presenting prior instances when former presidents followed the same tactic when they served as deputy presidents.
Speaking on Saturday, Kindiki revealed that even the second President of Kenya, Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi, had to do the same to Kenya's founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. In fact, Kindiki noted, so did President Mwai Kibaki, who during his tenure was even demoted to being a health minister.
"We (deputy presidents) are people who should say yes, like the way Moi told Kenyatta senior 'yes' and kept going. The man we used to love, Mwai Kibaki, was also there, being called General Kiguoya (coward) by many people who saw themselves as brave. He was Moi's vice president for 10 years," he stated.
"Sometimes he was being disrespected; even when he was demoted from Vice President to Health Minister, he kept going, and later he became the President."
Coming a bit closer to the recent administrations, Kindiki gave the example of former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who ran against Mwai Kibaki in 2002.
According to him, the former President led the opposition following his loss to Kibaki, but he had to come back to his corner when elders drawn from the Gikuyu, Embu Meru Association (GEMA) community, including the Njuri Ncheke, sat him down and told him to say 'yes sir' to Kibaki.
"There are people who went to Uhuru Kenyatta and incited him in 2002. When he was defeated by Kibaki, he became the opposition. In 2005, he was against Kibaki during the referendum. GEMA elders, called Uhuru, and told him if he needed to lead Kenya, he should leave the opposition and say 'yes sir' to Mzee Kibaki," he said.
"When we went into the 2007 elections, Uhuru, who was the leader of the opposition, stood behind Kibaki and said, 'Yes, sir.' You know what happened next."
Kindiki ended his tirade by evoking President William Ruto, whom he also observed was often subservient to his boss despite having several differences later in the Jubilee administration.
To conclude, Kindiki schooled critics who wanted him to have opposing opinions that only the people in opposition were meant to oppose the President and not his DP or cabinet.
"Even Ruto used to say, 'my boss, Uhuru Kenyatta', and now he is the President. There are people here trying to teach us politics that to be a DP or a minister, you have to oppose the President. It's not possible. If you want to oppose the government, go to the opposition," he declared.
Kindiki has been receiving criticism for months over his devotion to the president, with most Kenyans unimpressed with his defiant nature.
