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Nobody can slap the president, DP Ruto now says


Deputy President William Ruto has stated his position over reports that he considered slapping President Uhuru Kenyatta sometime in 2017 when the Head of State toyed with the idea of quitting the presidency moments after the Supreme Court nullified his election victory.

The DP has now clarified that he used the term slapping the president figuratively, since nobody could slap the president.

“You sincerely think you can slap the president? That is a figure of speech. The point I was trying to make to this audience was that the president was almost giving up,” Ruto said during a media interview.

The DP went on to recount the incident, that was leaked to the public early this week in an audio recording.

“President Kenyatta told me, ‘William I don’t want to continue, I want to go to Ichaweri.’ I told him ‘my friend, you are not about to do anything silly like that’. That’s what a genuine friend is all about. When your friend is about to give up you must be there to support them, to encourage them, to tell them not to make the wrong decisions,” he said.

Ruto’s latest comments on the matter comes just days after he indicated that he has no regrets about urging President Kenyatta not to give up on the presidency.

“Did you want the President to go home after (former Chief Justice) David Maraga nullified our win? Even if I forced him (to not give up the presidency), is that a mistake?” posed Ruto.

Ruto also reiterated that he played a big role in ensuring President Kenyatta won the presidency in 2013 and was re-elected in 2017.

“I used to wake up very early in the morning and chair three meetings even before Uhuru could arrive. I helped him only because he is my friend and I was not going to allow our opponents to take the seat,” he said.