Deputy President William Ruto has defended his 2022 presidential running mate Rigathi Gachagua against claims that he is frustrating Kenya Kwanza alliance principals.
Ruto defends Gachagua from attack by Kenya Kwanza principals
This is the second time that Ruto has come out to defend his choice of running mate
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Dr Ruto said that Gachagua's strong and bullish personality was the reason that he emerged as the best pick to become his running mate, accusing other politicians of having an inferiority complex.
“When I settled on him as my running mate, he was being opposed on grounds that he is very strong … that I needed someone who was soft and lowly placed in stature... But I insisted that I needed that strong person and highly placed,” DP Ruto said while in Njoro constituency.
He added: “They are suffering from an inferiority complex, who once they see another person going up the ladder of influence, they start fearing him … I am not like that. I seek that we succeed together and we can only collectively succeed together if we unite to deliver on our mission.”
A section of party leaders from Mt Kenya accused Rigathi of scheming to undermine candidates from smaller parties in favour of UDA.
Chama Cha Kazi, The Service Party and Tujibebe Wakenya leaders have publicly voiced their dissatisfaction with Rigathi.
They argued that outside Mt Kenya region, UDA was letting other Kenya Kwanza-member parties field candidates without frustration.
This is the second time that Ruto has come out to defend his choice of running mate.
“Rigathi is a passionate leader, a people's person who speaks my language about the ordinary Kenyans... he believes in the people [and the] bottom-up economic model like me. That is why I settled on him," Ruto said in a recent interview with NTV.
“I had five people I was looking at... I consulted with friends, party members, stakeholders... I took time to consult and the outright winner was Gachagua. All the others are wonderful people, great... only that the chance was one at one time and it was him,” he added.
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