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“I Never Believed In Handshake Stories” William Ruto Says On Working With His Competitor Raila

SK 2 years ago 2 min read

A political handshake between Raila Odinga, the leader of the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party, and challenger William Ruto has been ruled out.

Ruto claims he wants to support his administration by cooperating with his rivals in their capacity as the official opposition in order to make sure he runs a government that is subject to checks and balances.

“My competitors have a role to play. I will work with my competitors in the role that the Constitution assigns the people in the opposition. They will provide oversight over my government and I intend to work with them in that capacity,” said Ruto.

Following the formal announcement that he had won the presidential election on August 9th, Ruto spoke to the media on Monday.

According to the president-elect, he does not believe in surrendering democracy through agreements that lead to an unaccountable government.

The handshake between Uhuru and ODM leader Raila Odinga, according to Ruto, produced a “mongrel of a government where no one knows who is in the Executive and who is in the opposition,” throughout the last four years of President Kenyatta’s administration.

“I never believed in the handshake stories. I believe in democracy. I believe in a government that has checks and balances. When you have a government that does not have the opposition, you have the very high risk of having a government that is not accountable, precisely what we have seen over the last four years,” said Ruto.

He added: “That is why the people of Kenya voted for me and my team. They want a government that has checks and balances. They want a government that is accountable. They do not want a mongrel of a government where nobody knows who is the executive, who is the opposition and who is doing what. I think the people of Kenya want clarity because we are democrats.”

Ruto constantly criticized the Uhuru-Raila handshake throughout his final term as deputy president, which he attributed to the Jubilee government’s inability to carry out some of its major agenda items.