Murathe: Uhuru would have fired Ruto a long time ago
Jubilee Party vice chairperson David Murathe has said that Deputy President William Ruto is still holding his position in government thanks to the Constitution.
Murathe said that had it not been that the DP’s position is anchored in the Constitution of Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta would have dismissed his deputy a long time ago.
“Remember in the current Constitution, it’s only the Deputy President who is anchored in the Constitution who cannot be fired. Otherwise, Uhuru would have fired all of them, but he can’t, unless you raise the numbers to impeach him,” Murathe said during a radio interview on Friday morning.
Murathe also said that the reason why the president is in Azimio la Umoja Coalition as Council Chairperson is to ensure that there is trust among the party partners.
“It is (because) the distrust and mistrust in the political class and he comes in there as a guarantor,” Murathe said.
During Mr Kenyatta’s first term of office the head of state and his deputy presented themselves as tight buddies, who often jointly addressed the media in matching shirts and ties.
Then came the famous Handshake of March 2018 between President Kenyatta and his erstwhile political foe Raila Odinga. That single event effectively ended the Uhuru-Ruto bromance.
Ever since, the president and his deputy have been at loggerheads even as the head of state proceeded to mend fences with Mr Odinga, whom he eventually endorsed as his preferred successor.
However, the newfound Kenyatta-Odinga political ties will face its biggest test yet in the August 9 General Election, when the ODM leader faces Dr Ruto head-on at the ballot.