Handshake dilemma as Ruto allies push for talks

Deputy President William Ruto shakes hands with Cardinal John Njue during a Sunday service at St Thomas Kairuri Catholic Church in Embu County. [Courtesy]

Several Jubilee MPs are pushing for a meeting chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta to discuss the implications of the handshake to the ruling coalition and the perception that Deputy President William Ruto was being sidelined.

They also want President Uhuru’s directive on lifestyle audit and 2022 succession politics dealt with at the Parliamentary Group meeting, arguing that if the divisive issues were not addressed urgently the damage to the ruling coalition could escalate. 

However, it is the unity deal between the President and Opposition leader Raila Odinga, and its place in ruling coalition affairs, that seem to be at the core of most of the grievances of the MPs allied to Mr Ruto who are claiming there is a scheme to scuttle his presidential bid.

Yesterday, some of the MPs said they wanted the President to share the details of the famous handshake between him and Raila, arguing that current troubles within Jubilee seem to emanate from the March 9 unity agreement.

But even in the push for the meeting, the MPs seem to be gravitating towards different centres of power, with some declaring full support for Uhuru’s orders on lifestyle audit while another wing wants the President to pronounce himself on his commitment to backing Ruto in 2022.

There were reports that Uhuru and Ruto had on Friday agreed during talks at State House to convene a Parliamentary Group meeting tomorrow. But the MPs said they were yet to receive any formal invitation, which they said could be made today if the meeting would take place as reported.

MPs said the President should urgently convene the meeting to forestall a looming political fallout in the party that was cobbled in the run-up to last year’s poll by merging The National Alliance (TNA) of Uhuru and the United Republican of Ruto, among other outfits.

Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama said: “The meeting would be timely because even a fool knows there is a crisis that is threatening to tear apart Jubilee. We need to understand some few things about the handshake and why things have suddenly changed in Jubilee.

 “Those are issues we need clarified. We also want the President to reaffirm his commitment to support Ruto in 2022,” added Mr Arama.

The views were shared by his Nakuru Town East counterpart David Gikaria, who said the leadership should address murmurs that Ruto was being isolated in the running of the Government since Uhuru and Raila agreed to work together.

“When we started in 2013, the President and his deputy agreed to work together and end hostility among communities in the country. But since the handshake, things seem to be falling apart,” Mr Gikaria said.

Fight corruption

Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, who has been a critic of Ruto, said some people in Jubilee were uncomfortable with the President’s resolve to fight corruption and asked Uhuru not to succumb to political blackmail.

“The challenge we have in Jubilee is that there are certain individuals whom, when you discuss corruption, they feel you are discussing them and when you discuss them you are discussing corruption. There is a thin line between them and corruption,” said Mr Keter.

The MPs were unanimous that the meeting would give the two camps an opportunity to share their grievances and thrash out issues to ensure party unity. 

Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju said Parliamentary Group meetings were ‘fairly routine’ events and that the ruling outfit would officially communicate to its members should there be a need to have such a meeting.

Presidential bid

Another Ruto ally, Kuresoi South MP Joseph Tonui, said his group was worried about reports that the DP was no longer calling shots in the Jubilee administration and that some operatives in the Office of the President were determined to scatter his presidential bid.

Caleb Kositany, MP for Soy and close ally of Ruto, said they would seek to know the terms of engagement with the former premier. Cherengany MP Jushua Kuttuny, an ardent ally of Uhuru, said the meeting would give the leaders an opportunity to take a stand on lifestyle audit and the handshake, and why it is good for the country.