President William Ruto on Thursday, December 1, met Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary General Francis Atwoli at State House.
Atwoli who was the biggest critic of William Ruto during the August 9, presidential campaigns said he discussed an array of issues touching on politics and the labor movement.
The outspoken trade unionists who campaigned fiercely against Ruto’s presidency further discussed personal reconciliation with the Head of State.
After the meeting, the President was captured shaking hands with the flamboyant trade unionist where the two former antagonists shared light moments, a move that elicited sharp reactions from the political arena.
For instance, political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi in a statement described President William Ruto as a statesman.
Ngunyi said by reconciling with his long-term critic, the Head of State had emulated former Unites States of America president Abraham Lincoln.
Ngunyi, further stated that Ruto’s reconciliation with Atwoli confirmed that in politics, enemies have more currency than friends.
“Shaking hands with your enemies is a mark of statesmanship. Reconciling with Atwoli, President Ruto has used a script borrowed from the book ‘Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. In politics, enemies have more currency than friends,” Nyunyi said in a Tweet.
During the campaign period for the hotly contested August 9, presidential election, Atwoli favored Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
This saw him bitterly fall out with William Ruto who was seeking the country’s top seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
So vicious was his opposition to William Ruto’s bid that he frequently advised people in his backyard Sugoi to cut down all the trees because he feared the former Eldoret North MP would die by suicide after failing to win the presidency.
