A Senator allied to the ruling Jubilee party has said Deputy President William Ruto can as well survive without the Luhya votes during the 2022 general election.
Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho, Jubilee) during an interview with NTV on Tuesday said the recent utterances made by the DP in Kakamega did not mean that Ruto was calling for members of the Luhya community to vote for him in 2022.
The senator said what Ruto meant was that he wanted the support of ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi and opposition chief Raila Odinga to ascend to Statehouse.
This, Cheruiyot said, did not mean conversing of the Luhya vote.
"The fact that the deputy president spoke to Mudavadi and Raila does not mean he spoke to the Luhya community," Cheruiyot said during the live television interview.
Ruto while speaking during the homecoming ceremony of Lurambi MP Titus Khamala last week had pleaded to Mudavadi and Raila to support his presidential bid when 2022 comes.
"I call on you to beseech my two brothers (Raila Odinga and Musalia Mudavadi) that because I abandoned Prime Minister's post for them, there will be no problem if they leave the presidential seat for me since I am just a step away. And I am not forcing but politely asking," the DP said.
He said with the support of Raila and Mudavadi he would be good to go to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta.