President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday held private talks with his deputy William Ruto against the backdrop of perceived infighting in the Jubilee administration.
According to sources within the Presidency, Uhuru telephoned the DP in the morning and asked him to proceed for a meeting with him at State House, Nairobi.
While the finer details of the meeting that lasted well over five hours were scanty by last evening, it is understood that the two leaders discussed the BBI report that has kicked off a political storm and the expected Jubilee Party elections in March.
Their talks also centred on the role of the legislature in pushing the government agenda in the bicameral House ahead of MPs resuming sittings in two weeks’ time.
The impeachment of embattled Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and the state of Nairobi county were also discussed.
“The two went into a meeting at around 10am. It looked like their own meeting and nobody was allowed in,” a senior official within the Presidency told the Star.
Yesterday’s meeting with Ruto is part of Uhuru’s series of meetings with his close family members and his “kitchen cabinet.”
The President is said to have held lengthy discussions with some members of his family late into Sunday night. It would not be immediately established what the Kenyatta family meeting focused on.
On Sunday, Uhuru uncharacteristically asked the leadership of the African Inland Church at Milimani in Nairobi to allow him to speak first as he needed to attend a family meeting.
When contacted yesterday over the meeting, State House spokesperson Kanze Dena declined either to confirm or deny the event.
“No comment for now,” Dena said.
Yesterday’s meeting was the first face to face private conversation between the two after a long time of perceived hostilities sparked by Uhuru’s growing bromance with his political soulmate Raila Odinga.
Before the DP publicly endorsed the BBI report last week, he had been on an onslaught against Raila and a section of senior public officers whom he accused of hijacking the process to advance Uhuru succession politics.
Analysts and politicians yesterday said the State House meeting was crucial to break the ice between the two leaders over contentious issues surrounding the BBI and build synergy to drive the President’s legacy agenda.
Following reports that Raila’s attendance of the BBI rallies is part of his strategy to position himself ahead of 2022, the DP’s allies, who have now backed the initiative, want Ruto to start attending some rallies.
Ruto’s attendance is meant to counter Raila’s growing influence in government and puncture the ODM leader’s perceived game plan to use BBI to launch his 2022 ambitions.