The year was 2008 and the then Agriculture Minister, William Ruto, was reportedly holding secret meetings with President Mwai Kibaki.
Top on the agenda according to a Daily Nation article published on November 28, 2008, was the implementation of the Waki report, which had split the country right down the middle.
The post-election violence report by the Waki Commission, commonly known as the 'Waki report', was handed over to President Mwai Kibaki and prime minister Raila Odinga on October 15, 2008, it, however, did not publicly disclose the alleged perpetrators.
The Trade minister and Deputy Prime Minister at the time, Uhuru Kenyatta, is said to have attended at least two of the private meetings, during which Ruto was moved into abandoning his hard stance regarding the Waki report.
Then Prime Minister and Grand Coalition partner, Raila, whose support for the implementation of the report which called for the establishment of a tribunal, to try those responsible for the post-election violence, was the opposite of what Ruto had been campaigning for.
A well-placed source within State House disclosed intricate details of the meeting that orchestrated the formation of the Jubilee alliance that went on to form the next government.
“The President invited the two ministers to State House for tea on two different occasions, although I cannot tell you in detail what they discussed, I can confirm that the Waki report and the political future of the two leaders were on the table," the source divulged to the Daily Nation.
President Kibaki then went ahead and convinced the two ministers to bury their differences, and work towards pulling their communities together ahead of the 2012 general elections.
A KANU MP who was close to Uhuru at the time, verified the rumoured coalition, adding that it was still early days.
It was these secret meetings that were allegedly held at State House, that birthed a coalition that went on to sweep the country in the 2012 general elections.
“It is true we want to bring Ruto on board but this is just one of our strategies for 2012 and we have several others,” he disclosed.
