Mosop Member of Parliament Vincent Tuwei on Monday, May 2, publicly shared Deputy President William Ruto's phone number after a bitter fallout with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and its party leader over nominations.
In images seen by Kenyans.co.ke, Tuwei, who claims to have been rigged out of the Mosop parliamentary ticket by crude party officials, shared a screenshot of his call log, showing the DP's phone number had tried to reach him through three missed calls.
The lawmaker stated that he had ignored Ruto's calls, whom he refers to as an oppressor, suspecting ulterior motives.
"Missed calls from the oppressor himself. I will not bow down to pressure into stepping down for those who rigged me out," the MP remarked.
Tuwei has for a long time been a close associate of his colleague MP in Nandi county - Alfred Keter who represents Nandi Hills constituency.
The two have also had tense relations with the DP for a number of years but the bad blood with UDA escalated immediately after the party announced its nomination dates. The Mososp MP claimed that some of his colleagues in the party, including Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, were well bent to rig him out of the party primaries.
"I am aptly upset by the party leader, DP Ruto and leadership over the shambolic placing of returning officers, presiding officers and clerks overseeing the process. This shows how untrue he is to his word that UDA stands for democracy.
"This was evident when Sudi instructed Nandi County party officials to give known individuals the above positions. For these reasons, I am compelled to pull out of tomorrow's nomination process," read a press statement dated April 13.
However, the legislator allayed his fears and took part in the party primaries, which he lost to newcomer, Abraham Kirwa. Tuwei revealed that he would be contesting as an independent candidate, and threatened to resign from the party.
Bitter by what he maintains as rigged polls, he embarked on a mission to campaign against UDA and the Kenya Kwanza presidential aspirant's bid to succeed incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta.
"William Samoei Ruto, through Oscar Sudi stole my victory. He went against the will of the people of Mosop constituency. We will never be silenced.We will vote against oppressors and Projects come August," he stated.
His ally, Keter, also lost the UDA ticket for the Nandi Hills parliamentary race - despite winning in the party primaries. The UDA elections ruled that there were irregularities in the polls and resolved to give the ticket to Bernard Kitur who had emerged second in the nominations.
The Nandi Hills MP will be defending his seat as an independent candidate.
