National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has shelved his presidential ambition and will instead support Deputy President William Ruto in the forthcoming August General Election.
On Saturday, April 9, Muturi led the Democratic Party in signing a pre-election agreement with the-yet-to registered Kenya Kwanza coalition at a hotel in Karen.
Those present during the signing ceremony include the Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi and his Ford Kenya counterpart Moses Wetang’ula.
By joining DP Ruto’s camp, Muturi becomes the latest key Mt. Kenya leader to defy President Uhuru Kenyatta’s political stand for the vote-rich region of the mountain.
Coincidently, Saturday, April 9 marks the deadline for political coalition parties to submit their agreements to the Registrar of Political Parties as per the Political Parties (Amendment) Act 2021.
The move by Muturi to join DP Ruto’s camp is not strange as in his previous pronouncement, he had been critical of President Uhuru’s decision to support the ODM leader Raila Odinga.
Speaking at Bomas on February 21 during his unveiling as the DP presidential flag-bearer, Muturi termed the March 2018 Handshake as a selfish move that was informed by the greed for power beyond 2022.
“Show me anywhere in the world in a functional democracy where a sitting government decides to join forces with the opposition to form another government with complete disregard to their own?” Muturi posed while addressing the Democratic Party delegates at Bomas in Nairobi.
“These are the political bad manners that I am talking about. We must stand for something and not just the pursuit of power,” he said.
