Ruto told to resign or face impeachment

Deputy President William Ruto delivers a speech during a service at House of Hope Church, Kayole. [David Njaaga, Standard]

Amani National Congress (ANC) party on Tuesday asked Deputy President William Ruto to resign on grounds of ‘misleading’ the public.

Through a statement signed by Deputy Party Leader Ayub Savula, the party stated that it will prepare a motion to impeach the DP, accusing him of being a ‘danger to the stability of the nation.’

“In that impeachment motion, we will make the case that because his ambition is in competition with priorities set by the government he serves in, he is a danger to the stability of the nation by covertly dissenting and sabotaging the President’s government agenda. He does that through incitement of the vulnerable poor.

“Ruto swore to serve the people of Kenya diligently by assisting the President prosecute government agenda. But Ruto has deviated, nay, subverted his oath of office loyally to serve the President. Just this Sunday, Ruto has the shameless knack to call the President, his boss, a tribalist,” read the letter in part.

ANC Deputy Party Leader Ayub Savula [Courtesy]

The party also accused Ruto of pretending to be excluded in the formulation of the BBI yet he was part and parcel of it, as per President Uhuru Kenyatta’s speech during the unveiling of the document.

“On BBI, his instinctual propensity to lie has helped him cheat Kenyans for so long that he didn’t participate in the formulation of BBI.

“This was until the President told the nation – to Ruto’s face - that Ruto indeed made appointments to the BBI Taskforce,” read the letter.

This comes after President Uhuru Kenyatta hit out at Hustler Nation for selling a divisive narrative of hustlers vs dynasties.

Speaking during the burial of Mama Hannah Mudavadi, the Head of State suggested that it was about time a different community took over power.

“Let us respect one another…if that is the rationale (hustlers vs dynasties), then I can also say that there are only two tribes that have occupied the top seat, perhaps it is time for another community to lead,” said the President.

Ruto’s allies took Uhuru’s rhetoric for a statement of fact, with the DP describing the sentiments as overtaken by events and degenerative. His troops had earlier on criticised the statement, expressing shock that it had come from their leader.

“We cannot degenerate (to this level) because when I supported Uhuru, it was not because of his tribe but his agenda. I supported him knowing very well that Kibaki was Kikuyu. It was deliberate so that we end this politics of tribe and hatred,” said the DP.

Speaking at the House of Hope Church in Kayole over the weekend, Ruto told of how some of the political leaders tried to stop him from backing the president because he was the son of the founding Head of State, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

“Many people, including those who were in Western yesterday (Saturday), questioned why I was supporting him when he was from the same tribe as Kibaki. Some were telling me not to support Uhuru because he’s a son of a former president,” he said.