President Uhuru Kenyatta has told Deputy President William Ruto to resign if he is dissatisfied with the government.
In an interview with senior editors at State House, Nairobi, on Monday, the Head of State criticised his deputy for opposing a government he is part of, saying he was confusing the electorate.
"It would be an honourable thing that if you are not happy with it (government), step aside and take your agenda to the people.
"That is what happens in a democracy, you cannot ride on what we have done and talk a different language on the side," said Uhuru.
The president castigated the DP over his stand on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), breaking his silence a few days after the Court of Appeal declared the process null and void.
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He accused Ruto of spreading propaganda against efforts to amend the Constitution and questioned his sincerity in transforming the lives of Kenyans.
The interview touched on the BBI process birthed through the Handshake with ODM leader Raila Odinga, severed relationship with the DP, the 2022 polls, the economy and his legacy project to see a united Kenya.
The president also spoke about his plans to revive a struggling economy, the fight against Covid-19 and why he thinks the Judiciary is the weak link in the fight against corruption.
Uhuru, while responding to questions, empathised with Kenyans for having lost an opportunity to review a Constitution that he said entrenches inequality.
He said he has accepted the court’s decision and moved on.
“I don't agree with it, because I believe we have denied Kenyans the resources, we have denied Kenyans equity. We have denied funds to go to mashinani through the Ward Fund, which to me is actually a much more equitable way of ensuring that children in the rural areas access education up to university. It is better than NG-CDF,” he said.
The president still swears by his and Raila’s selfless efforts in pushing BBI but ruled out appealing the verdict at the Supreme Court.
“Unfortunately, the courts have ruled the way they have ruled and I believe that they have been highly misguided in that process," he added.
He admitted that some BBI’s proponents still feel that the process can be salvaged.
Uhuru reiterated that the initiative was not aimed at having Raila elected president.
“I was hearing that this BBI is to prepare Raila Odinga to vie for the presidency. Raila declared his presidency without BBI. And he's still on the ticket. BBI has nothing to do with his candidacy, neither is BBI intended to have him hang onto power," he said.
“This is all propaganda and hype that is built around to poison the people's minds. And to deviate them from looking at the real facts."
Uhuru denied plans to postpone the elections, saying he was ready to have the country go to the ballot at the prescribed time and according to the schedule laid out by the Constitution.
The president suggested that the declaration by the Court of Appeal that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was not properly constituted could affect the General Election.
“If indeed what the court ruled on BBI is anything to go by, in effect, they (Judiciary) are telling us we can't have a General Election because we don't have a properly constituted IEBC. So, I don't want to comment on that. But let's wait and see what unfolds,” he said.
Undoubtedly, the silent party in the interview was Ruto.
Uhuru’s gripe is not that the DP has the ambition to succeed him, it is more the way in which he is doing it – by maligning a government he serves in.
He said he did not know what happened between them, or when they started to view things differently but he understood that it was politics.
“I have no idea what has transpired, except for the fact that probably he is trying to create a base for him and for his future politics, which is right. I have never denied him that and he is free to do so,” said Uhuru.
The president said Ruto’s strategy was wrong, especially going against his government, and denied claims of sidelining him. He said he was kept abreast of all national matters.
“The honourable thing that leaders do is to say I disagree with the policies of this government, and therefore, I wish to disassociate myself from them, and tender your resignation. I wish this is what people would also do because as they say you can't live in a glass house and also throw stones, you're in the same house and you're also throwing stones to demolish it,” he said.
He accused Ruto of speaking out of both sides of his mouth and attempting to play all the cards, claiming credit for the government and at the same time criticising it.
“You want to sing the praises of government on one hand. You are saying this is what we have done and you want to ride on that. But on the other side of your mouth, you're talking another language,” said Uhuru.
The Jubilee Party leader yesterday made certain his disapproval of Ruto's candidature, stopping just short of asking Kenyans not to back him.
He suggested that the DP was a man who had put his political interest over what was good for the country.
Uhuru said when voting for his successor, Kenyans should be wary of politicians "who will sacrifice interest over personal political agenda."
"It is not my duty, nor is it my responsibility to tell people or to tell Kenyans how or where they should vote. But it is my duty to remind Kenyans, that they need to look at who they vote for, and why they are voting for that particular person.
"Like I'm saying it is unfortunate that amongst us, there are those who will sacrifice interest over personal political agendas, and I believe these are the things that Kenyans need to look out for at the end of the day," he said.
He contended that he was dealing with a struggling economy, which has given Ruto a platform for his campaign message.
But in fighting against BBI and whipping up public emotion against it, the president believes the DP is using the masses for political leverage.
When all is said and done and the BBI fails, Uhuru said, it is not the elite who will suffer, it is the masses. The elite are not victims of inequity or poverty.
“At the end of the day, who are the people who suffer when we have these political problems? It is not the elite. It is the masses, who are the people who are denied resources. When we don't deal with these issues of inequity, it is the people, not the elite, who suffer,” he said.
Yet rather than dealing with the root cause, Uhuru said, Ruto was using the mass grievance against poverty and lack of opportunity as a campaign platform.
“You want to now make it us-versus-them because it's an easy campaign platform to propel an individual to victory as opposed to dealing with the underlying problem. But somehow now, you will want to blame poverty on that class, instead of dealing with the root cause of the problem, which is providing resources, giving opportunities to every Kenyan equally and fairly," he said.
One of the enduring criticisms against Uhuru, especially since he held meetings with Raila and One Kenya Alliance (OKA) principals Gideon Moi (Kanu), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Moses Wetang'ula (Ford Kenya) and Wiper's Kalonzo Musyoka, has been that he is rallying the Opposition against his deputy.
Uhuru said their meetings have not been about selecting a candidate, rather synergise as senior political leaders, which Ruto was against from the beginning.
The Head of State also denied that he was weaponising the war against corruption.
"I have never and will never. If anybody has a case against me and they can claim and show that I have weaponised or I have used any agency to look after so and so, let them say.
"In this process, I have lost very many people close to me, who I was asked to force to step down because of the cases they were facing. I have no intention," he said.
