Uhuru, Ruto Appear Together in Public for the First Time in Months

President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto appeared together at a public function for the first time in several months.

The two attended the 18th National Prayer Breakfast held at Parliament grounds in Nairobi on Thursday.

Their meeting followed months of speculation about their working relationship after Kenyatta appeared to be running the government in absence of the deputy president.  

Ruto, who has been conspicuously missing in key government functions such as launching development projects and national events, is on record saying that Uhuru chose to do things differently in their second term in office.

The two have had a frosty relationship since the 2018 handshake between the president and ODM leader Raila Odinga.

This week, Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karua accused Uhuru of contravening the law by failing to establish a good working relationship with Ruto and sidelining him in the running of the government.

“He has set a bad example where a president can ignore the constitution and the law and lockout his deputy from work. One wonders then who would want to be a deputy in those circumstances,” said Karua.

“Previously we had some governors mistreating their deputies. This is completely unconstitutional. The president has joined the bandwagon. It is a bad example. They should be able to agree to disagree, to differ with respect on some aspects but to continue to operate as the presidency.”

“They can both resign and pave way for the elections. They were elected as a unit and should operate as a unit. If the president feels he can no longer work with his deputy and if his deputy has done anything that contravenes the constitution, the only way put is either impeach him or put up with him and develop a workable relationship,” she added.