President Uhuru mocks William Ruto over early campaigns ‘hii ni marathon’

President Uhuru Kenyatta has lashed out at his deputy William Ruto over early campaigns to become the country’s 5^th Head of State.

Speaking in Nakuru on December 1, the commander in chief said a youthful William Ruto has been running around without a plan, oblivious of the fact campaigns are like a marathon race.

He compared him to elderly ODM leader Raila Odinga, saying that the ODM leader could be slow but sure.

The Head of State likened campaigns to become a president to a long race, otherwise called a marathon which needs one to pace themselves carefully lest they run out of energy and fall out of the race.

“Leadership is not like soccer on the field, leadership is not a sprint…it is a marathon, you will run but by the time you are almost there you have no breath,

“But an old man (Raila Odinga) going slowly will overtake you (William Ruto) on the road. Mosmos (slowly)…” President Uhuru said amid cheers from the crowd.

The president was speaking at a function to grant Nakuru town city status, an event attended by Raila Odinga and skipped by Deputy President William Ruto who was instead on a campaign tour in Machakos county.

President Uhuru Kenyatta: Uongozi sio mpira wa kuchezwa kwa uwanja, uongozi ni marathon sio sprint. Wewe utakimbia hapa by the time umefika pale, pumzi imeisha lakini mzee amekanyanga polepole akuje akupite ukiwa bado kwa barabara. pic.twitter.com/fiW19obyNv

— KTN News (@KTNNewsKE) December 1, 2021

1/2 President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday conferred city status on Nakuru town making it Kenya's fourth city after Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

Read more: https://t.co/tS5KqoT1rz pic.twitter.com/larW3kWnEs

— State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) December 1, 2021

In the past, President Uhuru has expressed dissatisfaction with his deputy focusing on dethroning him instead of doing his job as the second in command.

His statement on a slow but sure race can be drawn from William Ruto early campaigns which started as son as Uhuru was sworn in for his second term.

Even though William Ruto is still leading in opinion polls, the latest poll by TIFA showed that Raila Odinga is slowly catching up, even though he started campaigning way after Ruto.

The poll conducted in November showed Ruto has 38 percent popularity among voters while his main opponent Raila Odinga has 23 percent.

This is compared to a similar poll conducted in June where Raila’s popularity was at 8 percent while William Ruto had 39 percent.

The latest comment from Uhuru also relates to popular opinion that ODM leader Raila Odinga is his preferred successor.

By saying that old Raila will beat William Ruto, it means Uhuru is vouching for an Odinga presidency.