Deputy President William Ruto will not be the president ahead of Kenya National Congress party leader Peter Kenneth, observes a veteran Nyamira politician.
Ruto has been traversing the country as he establishes strategies ahead of his 2022 presidential bid having declared his support for President Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2017 polls.
And Mr Nyarangi Moturi on Wednesday claimed that Mr Ruto will have a difficult time convincing people from the Mt Kenya region given that Mr Kenneth is believed to be eyeing the seat after Uhuru’s second bid.
“I don’t see a situation where Ruto becomes the president before Kenneth should he not reconcile with the Opposition leader Raila Odinga,” he said.
“His election is dependent on Raila’s support and the Kenyan voting pattern explains that. The control Kenya people will always vote one of their own and Kenneth stands a good chance given his smart politics,” he added.
Mr Moturi also insisted that Mr Ruto had an uphill task and challenged him to reach his former allies for a pre-election coalition ahead of the 2017 elections.
“On 2022, I think he should forget about it because Kenneth may carry the central Kenya votes and even other areas across the country. The only thing that can save the DP is reconciling with Raila because even if President Uhuru endorses him in 2022, the support will be unrealistic. That alone will take Peter Kenneth a slight advantage or any other candidate from central killing Ruto’s ambitions,” he said.