Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga rejected attempts Deputy President William Ruto to 'help tame President Uhuru Kenyatta' four times, ODM party has claimed.
On Tuesday, DP Ruto made similar assertions, claiming that Mr Odinga had approached him four times, requesting him to help him reach out to President Uhuru Kenyatta after divisive elections in 2017.
“Raila Odinga approached me four times to have a discussion but I declined,” Dr Ruto said in an interview with Citizen TV.
“I told him we have only one centre of command … I informed the president, whom I told I will not engage Raila.”
In a rejoinder, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, claimed that Dr Ruto, through a former powerful female minister from Rift Valley, had tried to reach Raila four times before the attempts flopped.
Earlier, he said, Dr Ruto had tried engage Mr Odinga through Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi. The attempts reportedly flopped after Mr Odinga learnt about 'Ruto's hidden motives'.
"But Ruto would not relent. He soon sent a female former powerful Cabinet Minister from the Rift Valley to Rt Hon Odinga’s home, with the same proposal to help tame "Uhuru and his people".
"The said former Cabinet minister was to attempt this mission on at least 4 occasions. All these attempts were rejected," said Mr Sifuna in a statement on Wednesday.
Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga have been clashing lately with President Uhuru Kenyatta caught in the center of the spat. They are all set to contest for 2022 polls according to their allies.