President William Ruto has escalated his attacks on former President Uhuru Kenyatta, accusing his predecessor of undermining his administration and financing opposition groups seeking to challenge him ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Speaking in Homa Bay County on Thursday during the final leg of his Nyanza development tour, Ruto said Kenyatta should step away from active opposition politics and allow the current administration to implement its agenda.
“My brother Uhuru Kenyatta, please give us a chance. Stop disturbing us,” Ruto said, accusing the former president of working with opposition leaders to weaken his government.
Ruto also claimed Kenyatta had been undermining his administration for the past four years, including by supporting political groups opposed to his government.
“For the last four years, you have been undermining this administration. For the last four years, you have sabotaged this administration,” he said.
The President further accused Kenyatta of lowering the stature of the Office of the Retired President by remaining deeply involved in politics.
“A former president! Surely, my brother, you are lowering the dignity of the office of the former president,” Ruto said.
At one point, Ruto compared the conduct he was accusing Kenyatta of to that of a rebel leader, invoking Joseph Kony, the Ugandan leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army.
Kony remains wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in northern Uganda. The ICC arrest warrant against him has remained outstanding since 2005.
Ruto said he was not seeking Kenyatta’s political support, despite having backed him in previous elections, but insisted the former president should not frustrate his administration.
The remarks come days after the High Court upheld a provision of the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act restricting retired presidents from holding leadership positions in political parties beyond six months after leaving office. The ruling does not bar former presidents from being party members or participating in political activities.
Kenyatta’s office subsequently said he would facilitate the handover of the Jubilee Party leadership, while stressing that the judgment did not end his political participation.
Ruto also used the Homa Bay tour to defend his administration’s development record and promote the UDA-ODM broad-based political arrangement.
He dismissed rival political formations as lacking a clear development agenda, while describing the broad-based arrangement as a vehicle for implementing programmes in housing, infrastructure, healthcare and education.
The President said the government was investing Sh27 billion in affordable housing, modern markets and student accommodation in Homa Bay County.
Of that amount, Sh3.5 billion is being spent on 21 modern markets across the county.
During the tour, Ruto inspected the construction of Misambi Modern Market in Kabondo-Kasipul, which is expected to accommodate 200 traders and be completed in November.
He also handed over Kendu Bay Modern Market in Karachuonyo and opened Kijebi Modern Market in Suba South.
“We are building the markets because we promised Mama Mboga and other traders that we would provide decent and dignified spaces for them to work from,” Ruto said.
The Homa Bay visit concluded Ruto’s multi-day development tour of Nyanza, which covered Kisumu, Siaya, Migori and Homa Bay counties.
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