Deputy President William Ruto has defended President Uhuru Kenyatta from claims that he plans to cling to power after 2022.
Speaking in Nyeri yesterday, the DP said Jubilee Party had no plans to change the Constitution to remove the two terms limit for the president.
Ruto, who was accompanied by more than 60 MPs, described Uhuru as a democrat keen to leave power with a good legacy.
He spoke at Hiriga village in Nyeri County during the burial of Martha Kirigo, the mother to Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.
“For clarity, the party has no scheme or plan to change the constitution with the intent to take Kenya back to the dark days to have leadership concentrated in one corner of this country,” he said.
But as Ruto sought to reassure that Jubilee was intact and ready to forge ahead, his allies demanded for respect.
Led by Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen, the leaders repeated calls for a parliamentary group meeting to heal the divisions that have rocked the party.
“We have a stake in Jubilee and we will not allow anyone to walk away with what is ours,” said Murkomen.
He advised Uhuru to address the grumbling coming from his own political backyard.
Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria told the mourners to ignore sentiments echoed by a group of politicians that Uhuru was too young to retire.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri said the Mt Kenya region should not break the covenant it made to support Ruto in 2022.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwah said the region should stick with Ruto the same way it has stuck with Uhuru.“The politics of deceit should not creep back and we as leaders have remained honest that the region made a commitment to support DP,” he said.
Told off leaders
MP Gachagua told off Jubilee Party leaders allied to the Kieleweke faction, saying they cannot teach him how to respect and support the President.
Among the leaders present were Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, his Deputy Caroline Karugu, MPs Alice Wahome (Kandara), Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) Kimani Ngunjiri (Bahati), James Gichuhi (Tetu), Gichuki Mugambi (Othaya), Aisha Jumwa (Malindi), Kimani Ichungwa (Kikuyu), Moses Kuria (Gatundu South) and Kanini Kega (Kieni)
Others were woman reps Rahab Mukami (Nyeri) and Faith Gitau (Nyandarua), and Senators Ephraim Maina (Nyeri) and Susan Kihika (Nakuru).
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