The chemistry that existed between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto may have disintegrated several months ago , with the fight against corruption being at the center stage, reports the Standard.
A day after DP Ruto condemned the spirited efforts to crack the whip on suspected cartels, President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday warned that he will not spare even his 'closest political ally' in the crack down.
“Whether they like it or not, whether friend or foe, brother or sister, if you are hellbent on corrupt ways, we will fight you,” the President said before adding, for emphasis: “You can be my brother, you can be my sister, you can be my closest political ally, you can be... whatever you are, but you are an enemy of the Republic of Kenya and we will fight you.”
“I won’t be clouded by ethnicity or status in my quest to leave behind a united nation and I will continue championing Kenya’s unity,” Uhuru said in one of the messages pulled down after his speech in Namibia.
After the stern warning, all social media accounts of the president were suspended with State House claiming that they were hacked. But a close study of the video sent to newsrooms, shows that PSCU edited some sections to remove the term 'closest political ally'.
“On account of unauthorised access to the official social media handles of H.E. the President of the Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, all official social media handles for the President have been temporarily suspended to allow for the necessary remedial measures to be undertaken,” reads Nzioka’s statement, which was also posted on Twitter.
“The President has not distanced himself from the comments on corruption and his comments still stand,” Nzioka added.
On Wednesday in Mombasa, Ruto faulted Uhuru's graft purge, insisting that it was based on witch-hunt and succession politics. According to him, DCI George Kinoti has been instructed to target him over 2022 politics.
Recently, Ruto faulted Kinoti over the investigations on Kimwarer and Arror dams where Sh21 billion was paid with no tangible work at the ground. Despite accusing DCI of witch-hunt, his boss, Uhuru Kenyatta has reaffirmed his support to the top detective.
“There has also been an attempt to hijack the war on corruption and turn it into a war against specific individuals. In the attempt to wage this convoluted version of the war on corruption, many government programmes and projects, as well as many innocent public servants, have become casualties,” Ruto said on Wednesday.