Political analyst Martin Andati claims that the President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga camp is out to crush Deputy President William Ruto's 2022 presidential plans.
Martin Andati says that this is the reason behind the ongoing push for constitutional changes under the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), which he says is a double-edged sword against the DP.
According to the commentator, the first purpose behind the introduction of the BBI was to force Ruto into opposing the suggested changes and give the two grounds to campaign against him.
He suggests that the duo expected that the DP would oppose the changes as he had demonstrated before, but he seems to have avoided the trap by supporting the proposal.
"The BBI is a political mobilization, they wanted him (Ruto) to oppose it so that there could be two sides for 2022 momentum, but he seems to have realized this and avoided the trap. (Hii BBI ni political mobilization, walitaka apinge ili wawe pande mbili ili kuleta momentum ya 2022 lakini nikama amegundua akaruka mtego)," he said on Radio Maisha, Monday morning.
Martin Andati added that the push for the referendum could also be a trick to force the DP to use his funds in opposing it, hoping that he will be broke by 2022.
This way, he opined, it will be easier to beat him in 2022, due to shortage of campaign resources.
"The plan was to cripple him financially, because the other side is using state funds. (Ilikuwa watumie njia hii kumchoma kifedha maana wao wenyewe wanatumia pesa za serikali)," noted the analyst.
However, the DP has since said that he is ready to support the referendum if found to be the best avenue for implementing the BBI report.