Newly elected Kenyan President William Ruto has cut short hopes by a cross-section of political analysts and citizens of him engaging in a political handshake with his rival Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party leader Raila Odinga.
Ruto says the core of his leadership lies in working with competitors in an opposition capacity urging that this way, there will be a buttress of his administration thus steering a government that operates under 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.
Addressing a joint media interview on Monday shortly after being declared Victor of the highly contested presidential race, Ruto said he does not believe in negotiation politics citing that these compromise democracy thus also running a government that is not accountable.
Reflecting on the four years Kenyatta-Odinga political handshake, Ruto justified that this only resulted in a “mongrel of a government where no one knows who is in the Executive and who is in the opposition.”
“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
Adding that “The people of Kenya 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.”
During his last tenure as deputy president, Ruto consistently faulted the Uhuru-Raila handshake for failing the Jubilee government in meeting party obligations.
