Deputy President William Ruto bowed to pressure and acknowledged that he was frustrated with divisions within the Jubilee Party.
During an interview with Citizen TV's Joe Ageyo on Thursday night, August 27, Ruto hinted at quitting the Jubilee Party after accusing President Uhuru Kenyatta allies of hijacking the faction.
Ruto pinpointed Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe as the leader of the group which constantly launched insults at him, and warned Kenyatta to bring the party to order lest he (Ruto) opts for his own solutions to solving the stalemate.
"Jubilee is not functioning as a party. We folded about 12 political parties to form Jubilee. Unfortunately, the party has been hijacked by busybodies, conmen and brokers like David Murathe who have no clue on our philosophy. Their word has become the party position.
"There is something wrong with juniors who insult their seniors. If it becomes hopeless and Jubilee is hijacked by the brokers, then waswahili wanasema, ‘kuvunjika kwa mwiko sio mwisho wa kupika’. (The wise men say that breaking a cooking stick should not be a reason for not cooking), Ruto stated.
The DP warned that the same virus that infected KANU and eventually killed it had infected Jubilee. Unfortunately, the mistake KANU did was to evict its staunch members, a trap he says Jubilee has fallen into.
Kenyatta cracked the whip in his party and ejected Ruto's allies from senior positions in Jubilee and the Parliament. Efforts to register Jubilee Asili, the breakaway outfit Ruto seemingly hoped would house his allies, were thwarted by the registrar of political parties.
However, the DP harbours hopes of uniting Jubilee and retaining his position as deputy party leader. Ruto heaped pressure on the head of state to assemble his party members to discuss the widening rift ahead of 2022 elections.
He also refuted claims that he was poised to resign as Deputy President owing to the pressure he was facing from Kenyatta's allies. The DP accused the group of attempting to push him out of the 2022 Presidential race.
Ruto argued that Kenyatta directed him to take a step back after their companionship ignited jitters in the party. During the 1st term, the two were famously described as Uhuruto. In the 2nd term, the DP highlighted that he was out to build a legacy for the President and decided to scrap the Ruto part. Analysts and politicians had argued that Kenyatta had clipped Ruto’s powers.
"Resign, why should I resign. My life is easy. Have you heard me complain? The situation between the President and myself is agreed upon.The style of doing things has changed. It is the President who assigns duties and when he delegates them to me, I undertake them with joy," Ruto stated.
Watch DP Ruto's remark on Jubilee Party
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