I’ve discharged all my duties with distinction, DP Ruto says
DP William Ruto with youth and women groups at his Karen residence.
What you need to know:
- Mr Ruto insisted that he had executed his duties as per the Constitution.
- He has been having frosty relations with the President to a point where Dr Ruto skips high-level meetings hosted by his boss.
- MP Kanini Kega threatened to cut funding to the DP’s office for what he said was dereliction of duty.
- Wednesday, Mr Ichung’wah dared Mr Kega, the Kieni MP, to go ahead with his plan.
Deputy President William Ruto Wednesday told off those accusing him of neglecting his job as the country’s second-in-command, saying he had discharged all his duties “with distinction”.
Dr Ruto insisted that he had executed his duties as per the Constitution and that President Uhuru Kenyatta “has not complained” about his work ethic.
“Some people are making noise that I have not fulfilled my role. There is no job that the President gave me that I did not do,” Dr Ruto said when he hosted women leaders at his Karen residence accompanied by a host of MPs and senators.
According to the DP, who has been having frosty relations with the President that has gotten to a point where Dr Ruto skips high-level meetings hosted by his boss, he had discharged his mandate well since April 2013 when the Jubilee duo took their oath of office at a packed Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi.
Dr Ruto spoke a day after newly-installed Budget and Appropriations Committee chairman Kanini Kega threatened to cut funding to the DP’s office for what he said was dereliction of duty.
Mr Kega, an ally of the President, got his position after Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah, who is allied to the DP, was de-whipped in a purge that targeted parliamentary leaders allied to Dr Ruto.
Cut budget
“We cannot continue to fund a dysfunctional office. I will ensure we cut the budgetary appropriation to his office. We cannot have someone spend taxpayers’ money while adding no value to the government. He cannot even attend a national function,” Mr Kega is quoted as saying on Tuesday, just a day after the DP’s conspicuous absence at the Covid-19 conference on Monday.
Wednesday, Mr Ichung’wah dared Mr Kega, the Kieni MP, to go ahead with his plan.
“Did I hear Kieni MP say he can choose not to allocate money to the office of the DP? I dare you to try it,” Mr Ichung’wah said.
Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi weighed in on the issue, saying it was irregular for Dr Ruto to want to wash his hands off the ills of the Jubilee administration.
“We are all reeling from the impact of debt, we are seeing higher figures of poverty, increased corruption, farmers not being paid in a timely manner, and our hospitals are lacking medicine. We are basically all under siege but, surprisingly, now we see a see a scenario where the Deputy President is telling the President: ‘sorry, I am not part of it, it is you’. Is this not deceit?” Mr Mudavadi said Wednesday.
Political hot potato
A constitutional office whose holder appears on the ballot with the presidential candidate and are both elected and sworn in on the same day, the role of the DP, compared to past holders who Presidents could fire at will, is a political hot potato.
The only avenue accorded to a President whose deputy does not conform to his or her agenda is to force them to resign or achieve the almost-impossible task of getting two-thirds of members of the National Assembly and the Senate to impeach them.
On Tuesday, Jubilee vice chairman David Murathe said the DP’s roles were as good as gone.
“He (Ruto) has no job if the President is around. His only job is to deputise the President. You know his job was taken over by (Interior CS) Fred Matiang’i, who is in charge of coordinating other ministers. The things he (Ruto) used to do are being done by Matiang’i. He may be on his way out of the party, and possibly out of the government. He is on record as saying he has no job, so let’s wait and see,” Mr Murathe said.
