In December 2012, after President Uhuru Kenyatta declared his candidature for the presidency for the 2013 General Election, a section of operatives at State House, who were unhappy, ordered him to vacate a government office at the NHIF building that he had been using.
The office had been allocated to the late first lady Lucy Kibaki but she wasn't using it.
Uhuru was also accused by the State House coterie of letting his party (TNA) approve the nomination of Mary Wambui to vie for the Othaya parliamentary seat that was being held by the then president Mwai Kibaki.
It was clear that the larger part of the Kibaki family, including his nephew and the current Laikipia Governor Nderitu Muriithi, were supporting Musalia Mudavadi’s bid for the presidency.
It was also alleged that in 2002, Kibaki and the late professor George Saitoti had secretly made a pact for the later to succeed Kibaki after he retired at the end of his two terms.
Uhuru’s entry into the race was therefore seen as a threat to the two candidates favoured by the Kibaki family.
The State House officials were also skeptical of Kenyans being open to another Kikuyu president to succeed the incumbent Mwai Kibaki.
Uhuru had been using the office during his tenure as the country’s deputy prime minister after the disputed 2007 General Election.
In an article published by Daily Nation in May 2018, former Kajiado North MP John Keen revealed that the issue, in turn, brought forth a feud between Uhuru and Saitoti which almost ended in the two exchanging blows.
This led Saitoti to partner with Raila Odinga in a bid to wipe away any chance Uhuru had at inheriting the house on the hill.
