President William Ruto and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta’s relationship started deteriorating during the Jubilee’s second term.
This was due to succession politics especially after then-President Uhuru Kenyatta sought political reconciliation with his then nemesis, Raila Odinga, through the March 2018 Handshake.
Their relations deteriorated further in the build-up to the hotly contested August 9, presidential election when Uhuru endorsed William Ruto’s bitter rival Raila Odinga as the best person to succeed him.
However, the Kikuyu Council of Elders and Kiama Kia Ama Association now want Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to mediate the unity between President William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta.
Speaking during New Year’s Eve prayers at The Ol Kalou Arboretum in Nyandarua County on Saturday, December 31, Kikuyu Council of elders chairman Wachira Wa Kiago the reconciliation between Uhuru and Ruto be given first priority in 2023.
“Our aim is to end the bitter rivalry and divisions witnessed in the run-up to, and during the last elections. We task the deputy president to spearhead the reconciliation process,” he said.
Wachira said it is their duty to unify leaders and communities across the country adding that the nation will not develop when the leaders are divided.
“We cannot develop as a nation if the three leaders do not make peace and that is why we will prioritize this in 2023,” the council announced in a statement.
But Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa has termed the plans as a ‘misguided missile on a wrong target’ saying that those tasking Gachagua to spearhead UhuRuto’s handshake should know that those are not his roles.
The lawmaker in a statement said Gachagua was elected by a majority of Kenyans to implement solutions to the myriads of problems bedeviling hustlers.
“Those tasking DP Rigathi Gachagua to spearhead this reconciliation should know that our Deputy President is busy looking for and or implementing solutions to the myriads of problems that millions of Kenyans told us during our economic forums,” Barasa said in a Tweet.
