My political journey with William Ruto – President Kenyatta

President Uhuru Kenyatta has once again spelt out the preeminent factors that led to his political union with William Ruto in the run up to the 2013 General Election.

In his address to the Jubilee Party National Governing Council on Friday, President Kenyatta said that it was out of his and Mr Ruto’s resolve to unite the country, which was recovering from the 2007 post-election violence that led them to forge the Jubilee Coalition that brought together his TNA party and Ruto’s United Republican Party.

“Our journey started after the 2007 post-election violence where William Ruto and I decided not to allow the country to fall into the dark abyss again because of political enmity and tribal differences,” said President Kenyatta.

“We decided to partner in order to unite the country and allow Kenyans to choose a leader based on their ideologies and manifesto and not their political or tribal affiliations.”

He stated that during the formation of Jubilee coalition, their intention was not solely to win the elections but to unite the country and end tribal animosity that had been witnessed in the 2007 post poll chaos.

Notably, the post-election violence adversely affected two regions – Rift Valley, which is home to the Kalenjin community, from which DP Ruto comes from, and Nakuru and Naivasha which is a predominantly Kikuyu-dominated region, a community from which President Kenyatta comes from.

“Through our coalition, God gave us favour to form the first government under the new constitution. From there we decided that as students of history we would not return to past atrocities and decided to run a consultative government devoid of wrangles and infightings,” said the president.

“From the time we were sworn in to date, we have not had differences with DP Ruto over the running of the government, unlike the Grand Coalition government (of CORD leader Rail Odinga – then Prime Minister –and former President Mwai Kibaki). My trust in him was evident when I left him to run the country as I let for The Hague.”

He stated that their zeal to serve Kenyans diligently is their way to thank Kenyans for the support they have accorded them over the years.

“We resolved to work for those who voted for us and those who did not because it is our obligation to serve Kenyans wherever they are.”

“As Jubilee, we have decided that no one will be left behind and that is why we took in the Makonde community from Mozambique and considered them one of us. This shows we are not discriminatory.”

Uhuru said that during his tenure as president, Jubilee has achieved a lot that was left unresolved by past regimes and called on Kenyans to vote them back in the 2017 General Election to ensure continuation of development projects.

“We promised Kenyans that should they elect us there will be no woman who will pay for maternity services and we have fulfilled that. Today over 70 per cent of Kenyan women are giving birth attended to by medical personnel in our hospitals…those who have eyes can see,” he said.

President Kenyatta further noted that security has improved in the last three years citing increased patrol vehicle in areas like West Pokot being increased from three to over forty.

He noted: “We said we want to modernise the security system in Nairobi by installing CCTV and creating a command control and we have delivered that. We said we wanted to ensure children’s certificates are not held by their schools by paying examination fees and we have done that.”

He faulted CORD for claiming that they did not have what it takes to implement the new Constitution stating that the bleak predictions have been disapproved.

In his speech at the NGC, Deputy President William Ruto hailed President Kenyatta leadership calling on the party members to support their push for a second term.

He said that it was paramount for Kenyans to shun divisive politics and embrace unity in a bid to ensure a peaceful election in 2017.

During the meeting, Jubilee resolved to allow the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to handle the party’s nomination process to ensure free and fair process, and be guided by its manifesto in their campaigns ahead of the 2017 General Election.

@benjaminwafula