Suna East MP Junet Mohammed on Sunday, June 3, released the controversial secret audio that captured Deputy President William Ruto admitting that he nearly slapped President Uhuru Kenyatta over the Supreme Court ruling that nullified the 2017 presidential election.
The contents of the recording were first reported by the Nation - although the clip was not made public. However, Junet played the full clip during Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga's rally in Ndhiwa, Homa Bay.
The legislator did not explain the source of the audio taken during a closed-door meeting at the DP's residence in Karen - held on Friday, July 1. Attendees had been asked to leave their phones out of the room.
The recording, however, offered new insights including Ruto laughing while speaking about what he found the President doing on the material day.
"I left my place here and went to State House, I do not want to say what he was doing when I got there because we are elders (laughs). He started mumbling, saying that he no longer wants it and he wants to go to Ichaweri and that we should let him be.
"I looked at him and told him that you! It is just that I had respect for him otherwise I would have slapped him. That we let go and leave?" the DP stated.
Junet argued that the recording confirmed that the country would not be safe under the leadership of a man who would have the guts to slap a sitting president.
The MP also reiterated allegations that Ruto and Uhuru had fallen out long before the handshake - and that the DP approached Raila's team to kick off the Head of State's impeachment.
"They fought over issues corruption and Ruto acting like he was a defacto president. After the election, he began approaching people like myself, telling us that Uhuru was bad and that we should impeach him," the MP alleged.
The DP's team has not issued a formal response but Ruto's aide, Dennis Itumbi, appeared to confirm the cracks existed before the General Election.
The digital strategist claimed that Ruto had been informed of an intention to replace Ruto with Kalonzo as Uhuru's running mate in the 2017 General Election.
"Ruto fought hard for Uhuru to be elected & re-elected. You might be interested that as Ruto fought hard, the Uhuru team in 2016, wanted Kalonzo to be running mate! They even called Ruto to a meeting & tried to tell him they would replace him!" Itumbi claimed.
Itumbi's claims appeared to corroborate remarks by Ghanaian televangelist Nicholas Guncan Williams, who in January 2019, claimed that the DP in 2016 sought his guidance on running against Uhuru in 2017.
Williams stated that he advised Ruto, who was accompanied by his wife, that he would lose the election since it was not yet his time. He asked him to continue deputizing Uhuru for a guaranteed victory - a prophecy that came true.
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