Gloves appear to be off in the fall out between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto after otherwise laid back public servants began launching public attacks on the DP.
On Wednesday, June 8, the Principal Secretary in the State Department for ICT and Innovation Jerome Ochieng publicly attacked Ruto as a copy cat intending to plagiarise the Azimio manifesto.
While responding to an announcement that Ruto would be unveiling his manifesto on June 30 after touring 47 counties, Ochieng questioned the legitimacy of the document the DP intended to launch.
The PS further made sensational claims that the presidential candidate would unveil a replica of the manifesto launched by the Azimio candidate, Raila Odinga.
"Do you actually need three weeks to copy and paste the Azimio document?" posed the official who had opted to sit on the political fence.
Ochieng poked holes at how the Second-in-Command would take time to oversee the manifesto amid his busy campaign schedule.
He claimed that it would be nearly impossible for Ruto to visit all counties, yet his campaign was focused on Mount Kenya.
"How will you visit 47 counties if you visit Central Kenya three times a week. Just asking for a concerned friend," he posed.
The PS became the latest entry from President Uhuru Kenyatta's government to criticise the UDA party leader, while at the same time throe their support behind the former Prime Minister with just 60 days to the election.
Previously, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, his Agriculture counterpart Peter Munya and their ICT colleague Joe Mucheru have been the only members of the executive who have publicly gone after Ruto.
However, with the official campaign period opened by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chair Wafula Chebukati, more state officials have come out to rally behind the leader that their boss endorsed.
On June 7, State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena joined Azimio running mate Martha Karua in Mombasa for the Maendeleo ya Wanawake celebrations, where she asked the women to vote for Raila during the election.
The latest remarks by Interior PS Karanja Kibicho, who claimed that intelligence reports indicated that Odinga would garner 60 per cent of the votes cast in the General Election also raised concerns in the Kenya Kwanza camp.
Consequently, UDA, through lawyers Mutuma Gichuru and Advocates, wrote to the National Intelligence Service demanding an explanation on whether the report was true as well as an answer on how Interior Kibicho got access to intelligence data.
This, despite the Elections Act dictating that state officers should refrain from engaging in politics, especially in pushing the agenda of a political party or candidate. The Act calls for those interested in campaigning to have resigned six months before the poll.
