President Uhuru Kenyatta, on Thursday, reacted to the 2022 succession battle that has been termed by Deputy President William Ruto and allies as a competition between Kenya's political class vs hustlers (commoners).
The said politicians have been claiming that Kenya's political families have been plotting to keep a grip on power.
President Uhuru made the remarks at the Holy Family Basilica, Nairobi, during a service to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the death of the nation's founding father, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
“When you hear people out there talk about dynasties, sijui mtu fulani ni dynasty, sijui ile dynasty (so and so belongs to this dynasty, or that dynasty). It’s not about that.
“Leadership is not about where you were born or where you came from. It’s not about the colour of your skin or about tribe. Leadership is the desire to serve; the desire to do good and make a difference in the lives of the people," Uhuru spoke.
The president went on to defend his partnership with ODM leader Raila Odinga noting, “My plea today is, what is it that each one of us can do, that makes a difference and impact on the lives of people in a positive way. I am willing to engage anyone with that desire that will create a positive society.”
The DP has branded himself as the commoner who rose to be a force to reckon with in Kenya's political class.
"My father bought me my first pair of shoes in 1981, from a Mr.Onyango on the street. The shoes cost Ksh 60, he could not afford the Bata shoes.
"Today, as you can see, the gentleman who did not have shoes is sitting at the high table, it is because we cannot forget where God has brought us from," Ruto had stated in May 2019.
"The days of dynasties are gone. We want to have leaders who are self-made. We won't vote of anyone because of who their parents are," Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa stated during a past funds drive in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County, where he had accompanied Ruto.
Kapseret MP, Oscar Sudi, after the arrest of former Treasury CS Henry Rotich and PS Kamau Thugge, stated that “I want to tell you that dynasties have no mercy. Sisi kama wanyonge tumeumia. (We are suffering as the poor)."
In November 2018, ODM leader, Raila Odinga, told mourners at a memorial service in honour of former Maendeleo ya Wanawake Chairperson, Jane Kiano, that he and Kenyatta achieved their positions on their own merit.
He insisted that they were not part of dynasties because their fathers struggled on their own.
“Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was a son of a pauper, he struggled, and he was detained by colonialists for all those years. You cannot say there is a Kenyatta dynasty; you cannot say that just because of that Uhuru is part of the dynasty.
"Odinga son of Raila was just another son of a pauper, you can also say he was a hustler, you cannot say that Raila is part of a dynasty,” the former premier explained.
