Deputy President (DP) William Ruto on Monday, October 14 hanged Daily Nation out to dry over an article on their cover page.
The furious DP attacked the paper over a story on How Uhuru pulled a fast one on Ruto, in which he(Ruto) is said to have tried to blackmail the President into fulfilling his demands.
Taking to his Twitter, Ruto labelled the story as fake and the paper as gutter press. He also took a swipe at the newspaper's Executive Editor Pamela Makotsi urging her to operate a gutter press.
"Fake news at it again! I chaired the IBEC meeting that approved the matter way before it came to parliament. Unfortunately for the Nation, Uhuruto is inseparable. They should either register as a political party then compete with Jubilee or operate a gutter journal for Makotsi to run," he retorted.
Quoting sources, Daily Nation reported that Uhuru had asked the DP to mobilise MPs with an aim of passing the country's debt ceiling to the current Ksh9 trillion.
The DP is, however, said to have demanded the president to convene a Jubilee Party’s Parliamentary Group meeting, on Monday, October 7, so that they would get a unanimous stand before proceeding to the National Assembly.
Nation further disclosed that in the meeting he convened Ruto informed Uhuru that he also wanted to discuss other important issues among them Jubilee Kibra candidate McDonald Mariga.
Ruto also asked Uhuru to don party colours and join the fray in campaigning for Mariga.
Sensing manipulation, the president is reported to have sought similar support from former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka to have his wishes fulfilled.
“It’s true the President reached out to Odinga, who assured him of his support because it was politically strategic for him not to go the PG way,” the paper quoted an MP close to the two leaders.
National Assembly's Majority Leader Aden Duale also confirmed that the PG meeting was scheduled to take place but leaders in the ruling party decided to give the bipartisan approach a chance.
In his Tweet, the DP, however, claimed that he chaired the IBEC meeting that approved the matter way before it came to parliament.
