ODM leader Raila Odinga now wants Deputy President William Ruto to quit the government.
Speaking on Friday, August 27, 2021, in an interview with a vernacular radio station, the former Prime Minister Raila also accused the DP of engaging in doublespeak.
“When things are not going your way, you should be principled and resign. Otherwise, future generations will judge you harshly,” said Odinga.
“This is not the first time we are facing such a situation. My father Jaramogi was not fired. He realized he was not assigned duties so he wrote his resignation to the president.”
Odinga, while comparing Ruto to his father Jaramogi, argued that the second in command has been associating himself with some of the successful projects in government while also criticizing the same government in the same breath.
Jaramogi was the first vice-president of Kenya. He resigned in 1966 after a fallout with then-President Jomo Kenyatta, father of current President Uhuru Kenyatta, barely three years after the country’s independence.
Odinga’s comments come three days after President Kenyatta, in an interview with the media, also asked Ruto to quit.
“I have an agenda that I was elected on. The honourable thing to do if you are not happy with it is to step aside and allow those who want to move on to do so, then take the agenda to the people,” said the President.
The President’s comments have been interpreted to suggest a complete political fallout with his Deputy, less than a year to the next general elections.
Ruto and Odinga are considered front runners to succeed President Kenyatta, with the former PM seeking an endorsement from Uhuru as he runs for the fifth time.
Raila jetted back into the country after official visits to Zambia and Tanzania where he took time to check on the widow of former Tanzania President John Pombe Magufuli.
