Deputy President William Ruto has severally found himself on the spot over allegations of engaging in early campaigns, ahead of his 2022 presidential bid.
His cross-country tours have been translated into political trios, which his critics both from the opposition and Jubilee Party insist go against President Uhuru Kenyatta's warnings.
And though he has repeatedly humbled himself, maintaining that he is not campaigning, his recent remarks in Eldama Ravine point at a defiant man who is doing the opposite.
Speaking in his Kalenjin dialect hinted that knowing the date of the elections, he is not planning to tone down, but will continue preparing himself for the race.
"I will continue to prepare myself because I have a right to do so," he said, according to the Standard, at a time when his allies have also defiantly continued campaigning for him.
Ruto made the remarks in Sinoin, Eldama Ravine in Baringo County four days ago.
This comes as a blow to Uhuru who has demonstrated that he badly needs some calm to realize his dreams for the country, and who is noe openly working with a defiant deputy.
Ironically, the remarks came only days after Uhuru's warning to some Jubilee Party members whom he noted have been engaging in politics, a shot that was deemed to be aimed at the DP
“Some people have been loitering around the country and we know their intention is to undermine my development agenda. They think I am a boy, but I want to tell them I will not allow them to destroy the path I have created to enable me turn around the livelihoods of Kenyan people," he said in Kasarani Stadium last month.
Ruto's campaign team has been seen to include forces drawn from Uhuru's Mt Kenya bedrock, and others poached from opposition bedrocks.