A Jubilee Member of Parliament has revealed the source of conflict between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy William Ruto months after the handshake.
In an interview on Kameme FM, Nominated MP Maina Kamanda disclosed that he attended a reportedly tense meeting at State House between the two parties.
In the meeting that was meant to discuss the 2018 Finance Bill, Kamanda claimed that the DP called on his allies to reject it in an attempt to embarrass the President.
“I remember when we were called to State House as Uhuru needed us to pass the Finance Bill 2018 to help his government raise revenue for development.
“At that meeting, the Deputy President bitterly opposed his boss and even some of our Mt Kenya MPs were on his side. They were only interested in embarrassing the President,” stated Kamanda.
The alleged confrontation came a few months after the famous handshake between the head of state and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The finance bill was, at the time, looking to introduce the controversial 8 per cent tax on petroleum products.
The bill eventually sailed through Parliament after some MPs boycotted the session thereby reducing the quorum needed to vote on a Presidential Memorandum.
The cold war between the two parties has since progressed with the introduction of the “Team Tanga Tanga” movement.
Leaders across the divide often clash with those from Ruto’s side accusing the president's allies of plans to abandon the DP in the 2022 elections.
