Claims of DP William Ruto blackmailing President Uhuru Kenyatta to campaign in Kibra emerge

Claims of Ruto blackmailing Uhuru to campaign in Kibra emerge

Tony Mukere

October 14, 2019 11:08 AM

Source say Raila saved Uhuru from wearing Jubilee campaign regalia

File image of President Uhuru Kenyatta with DP William Ruto

Claims have emerged of Deputy President William Ruto allegedly blackmailing President Uhuru Kenyatta to campaign for the Jubilee candidate in the Kibra by-election.

The Nation reported its sources indicating that the DP had asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to campaign for Mariga and call for a Jubilee Parliamentary Group (PG) – as a condition to supporting the government-sponsored motion seeking to raise the debt ceiling.

The source indicated that President Kenyatta had asked Ruto to marshal party MPs to support the unpopular motion seeking to raise the country’s debt ceiling to 9 trillion.

Ruto is said to have implicitly made the demand for Kenyatta to join the Jubilee campaign trail in Kibra and agree to summon a PG meeting which the DP’s allies have been abdicating for over the past year.

Feeling corned, President Kenyatta is said to have quietly turned to ODM Leader Raila Odinga and Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka.

The motion ultimately passed with support from Wiper and ODM MPs who were reportedly acting on instructions of their respective party leaders.

The reports of a planned PG meeting were confirmed by National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale – who indicated that the meeting was called off after Opposition MPs agreed to support the debt ceiling motion.

“I was for a PG, but I opted to give bipartisanship a chance,” Duale said.

The DP’s spokesman, David Mugonyi, however, dismissed the reports of blackmail – insisting that conversations between the President and his DP are confidential.

During debate of the motion, Ruto’s close ally Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa, unsuccessfully attempted to cap the debt ceiling at Sh7.5 trillion against the government’s wish for a Sh9 trillion cap.

Tony Mukere