Kimilili Member of Parliament Didmus Barasa now says Deputy President William Ruto should be treated with the utmost respect by all Kenyans.

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Barasa said even those who do not support the DP should respect him, so his followers can also respect other leaders who are in political competition with him.

"Political friendship is not forced. It is a personal decision. It is important to respect other political leaders if you want your leader to be respected, the Deputy President William Ruto should be respected at all costs," he tweeted on Sunday.

Barasa is among political leaders from Western Kenya who have thrown their weight behind Ruto and have vowed to campaign for him in his bid to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2022 general election.

Ruto has been on the receiving end from a section of Jubilee politicians allied to Kieleweke faction, and others belonging to Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) who have been saying he is unfit for the presidency over alleged links to corruption.

Led by former Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru, they have been calling on the President and ODM leader Raila Odinga to ensure Ruto and his Tanga Tanga group are blocked from taking over power in the next polls.

"We now want Uhuru and Raila to lock them out of 2022 as we did in Kibra. Let the newfound unity continue to 2022 and let us also use it to clean Nairobi,” Waweru said referring to last month's Kibra parliamentary by-election where McDonald Mariga, who was being supported by Ruto, was defeated by Imran Okoth of ODM.

On his part, however, the DP on Sunday asked warring camps in Jubilee to end their differences and stick together, saying that was the only way the country would stick to its development agenda.

"I want to ask all the Jubilee leaders to go back to the ideals which informed the formation of the party. We no longer want to hear the bickering and confrontational politics. We want to find a way of uniting all Kenyans," he said as quoted by the Standard.