Former President Uhuru Kenyatta reportedly feared his successor, William Ruto, months before the election despite controlling state machinery and security forces.
The revelations were made by Saitabao Ole Kanchory, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's chief agent in the 2022 General Election, in his memoir Why Baba Is Not The 5th.
In the book released on April 11, Kanchory claimed that Uhuru often froze in fear because of his deputy. He, however, did not provide any scenarios to ascertain his allegations.
"For some undisclosed reasons, Uhuru Kenyatta - even as the President - literally feared William Ruto. I am talking about real fear - the kind that causes one to freeze, or flee. Uhuru froze.
The lawyer described Ruto as a methodical schemer who would only be outsmarted with similar countermeasures - a move that the former Head of State could not pull off.
"Fear is a debilitating and paralysing force. This is why fear not is emphasised more than anything else in the Bible," read the book in part.
Kanchory added that Ruto was deeply rooted in the deep state, contrary to the belief among Raila's allies and Kenyans. Notably, Ruto had dismissed the influence of the deep state and the system before the elections.
Raila's chief agent in the August 9 polls also asserted that Uhuru only controlled the shallow, deep state and a dysfunctional system - which could not guarantee a win for the ODM boss.
"Amid the talk of the deep state and the system, we forgot that if one existed and it did, there must also be a shallow state that any system can fail or break.
"All in all, Baba's plan to win the elections fair and square, was a gravely flawed plan considering he had tried this plan four times before and it didn't work," he stated.
On the other hand, he echoed that Raila was not part of Uhuru's government and only depended on the goodwill of his ally despite the famous March 9, 2018 handshake.
The lawyer expressed that the ODM boss often got intel from various agencies as he transversed the country to drum up support for his fifth jibe at the presidency. However, he ignored information from insider diplomats and any individual who contradicted his close allies, Junet Mohammed (Suna East MP) and Joe Mucheru (former ICT Cabinet Secretary).
