Deputy President William Ruto on Tuesday, July 12, refuted claims that he nearly slapped Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa.
While addressing a rally in Trans Nzoia County, the DP claimed that he played a key role in Wamalwa's career after pushing for his appointment to the Cabinet.
Ruto further sarcastically stated that he had been socialized to respect women and not assault them.
"I heard somebody I gave the CS job, who comes from here, claim that I wanted to slap him. Let me tell you this; Where I come from, we do not slap women. Tell him that we respect women.
"Remind him to tone down. Without me, he would have been roaming around. I got him from the streets and gave him the CS job," stated the DP.
Wamalwa first made the claims on Saturday, July 9, noting that Ruto nearly slapped him in 2018 while demanding his resignation letter.
He explained that the incident occurred when he led a delegation of leaders from Western Kenya to State House, while holding the devolution docket.
The CS argued that Ruto was furious at the time because he did not want the meeting to happen since he had not been informed about it earlier.
"Ruto was furious and demanded my resignation. He wanted me to explain why I had taken leaders to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta without his permission," he remarked.
Wamalwa made his entry into the Cabinet in 2015 when he was appointed to head the then newly created Water and Irrigation ministry after being nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta in April 2014.
The allegations surfaced barely a week after another audio clip made rounds in which the DP admitted that he was close to slapping President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In his response, Ruto argued that his opponents had resorted to recording him in private - but defended the contents of the audio - stating he had every the right to push Uhuru not to relinquish power.
He stated that at the time, so much was at stake for both him and the President and that it would have been unfair for the Head of State to make the sole decision to relinquish the seat just because the Supreme Court had invalidated their victory.
