Prominent lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has waded into the 2022 succession debate, defending President Uhuru Kenyatta against pressure to back his deputy William Ruto.
Uhuru has been under pressure from a section of politicians from his Mt Kenya backyard and Rift Valley, to declare his support for Ruto, since he had allegedly pledged to endorse him upon his retirement.
Ahmednasir said the Jubilee party leader should not be coerced to rally behind the DP, noting that he should also not get into the way for Ruto to become Kenya's 5th Head of State.
"H.E Uhuru has the moral and legal rights not to support DP Ruto for 2022. (No one can force him). DP Ruto has the legal and moral right to run in 2022. H.E Uhuru has no moral or legal right to scuttle/derail DP Ruto's 2022 campaign for President," tweeted the Senior Counsel on Friday.
There have been reports that Uhuru and his deputy were no longer seeing eye to eye since he entered into the handshake with the ODM boss Raila Odinga.
However, the handshake has been defended by some politicians from Mt Kenya who have even been saying they will support Raila in 2022 if Uhuru endorses him.
Former Mukurwe-ini MP Kabando Wa Kabando said in 2013 efforts to pair Uhuru and Raila flopped due to the ICC cases, claiming they 'reluctantly' accepted to work with Ruto.
"We reluctantly but robustly supported UhuRuto deal after political propagandists fabricated 07/08 PEV investigations. Some victims were depicted villains. We justifiably sympathized, defended our own. That’s after quiet efforts by some of us to get Raila-Uhuru alliance failed," Kabando said on Tuesday.