Deputy President William Ruto has distanced himself from the failures of the Jubilee administration saying the buck stops with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Speaking at Chatham House London, on Monday, March 7, Ruto said that President Uhuru is individually accountable for the performance of the Jubilee government.
“I have never been a deputy president for nine years…I don’t know which dockets were given to me, we have always had one president, not two, the responsibility of the government has never been shared between President Kenyatta and me,” Ruto said.
The second in command disputed the notion that he shared the government positions with President Uhuru Kenyatta saying he had no role in the constitution of the government.
“There were no dockets that were given to me. I didn’t appoint any minister anywhere. Everybody was appointed by the President of Kenya,” Ruto said.
Ruto’s sentiments contradict those of President Uhuru who last month while speaking at Sagana III appeared to suggest that they shared the government down the middle.
The deputy president further alleged that President Uhuru stripped him off, most responsibilities after the 2017 election (after the handshake).
“On our second term, because of the political dynamics that came to play, President Uhuru told me he wanted to do things differently; that he did not want what had become normal, ‘UhuRuto’. He wanted a ‘Uhuru’. He wanted his legacy, alone, as the 4th president of the Republic of Kenya,” said DP Ruto.
“He decided that whatever I did in the first term to coordinate government programs and work on assignments to consolidate our plan, was to be carried out by somebody else.
“I did not complain. I had no quarrel with him because that is how he wanted to deliver on his second term. So, Executive Order No. 1 came into force establishing a different arrangement in government.” The UDA boss added.
According to the deputy president, most works of the Jubilee administration were done during the first term when he was actively involved in the running of the government.