This archive report was first published on 20 August 2019.
Deputy President William Ruto has sparked a fresh row with President Uhuru Kenyatta by vowing to continue planning for his 2022 presidential bid.
Speaking in Baringo county during a fundraiser for over 35 churches on an unspecified date in July 2019, Ruto said nobody should stop him from planning for the future, including his presidential ambitions in 2022.
‘“You plan for today and the future.And that is why when we go for these public rallies, they say we are in Jubilee and organised for tomorrow. Is there a problem with that?Do you know the date of going to heaven? But you have faith that we are going to heaven? So with this 2022 which we know the date, the week and the month, is there a problem when we plan?” Ruto asked.
His remarks come after President Uhuru Kenyatta gave a stern warning to Tanga Tanga MPs from the Mt Kenya region, saying he would smoke them out and crash them if they persisted with constant politicking instead of working for their constituents.
Uhuru's warning was made at the annual Akorino meeting in Kasarani, almost a month before Ruto's remarks, on an unspecified date in July 2019.
However, Ruto's defiance has been met with a lukewarm response from legislators from Uhuru's backyard of Central Kenya, who have stopped frequently accompanying the DP to his functions.
