DP William Ruto has revealed interesting details about the happenings that preceded President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga's truce last year.
Speaking on Tuesday, Ruto faulted claims that Uhuru left him out of the talks, claiming that he actually knew about the handshake long before the President.
In an interview on Citizen TV, the DP claimed he was the first target of Raila, narrating how the former Prime Minister tried to engage him four times, requesting for talks.
He said that he rejected the calls, two of which were directly made by Raila through phone calls, and the remaining through the politician's emissaries.
"Before Raila Odinga engaged the President on the matter of the handshake, he engaged me. He approached me on four occasions to have a discussion but I declined," he said.
Ruto added that he had two reasons on why he refused to grant Raila's wishes, adding that he also discussed the matter with Uhuru on all occasions, notifying him of Raila's moves.
"I declined for two reasons. First, in Jubilee party, we have one central command who is President Uhuru Kenyatta who we all refer to. The second one is I did not believe that he (Raila) was doing it in good faith.
We were speaking on phone and he was telling me things about being shortchanged by the President. I raised the issue with the President on all occasions," Ruto said.
He claimed that Raila tried to use tricks to drag him to the negotiation table, claiming that Uhuru was about to shortchange him in the appointment of Cabinet Secretaries.
Ruto added that he was also briefed about all the happenings that preceded and succeeded the handshake at Uhuru's Harambee House offices in Nairobi.