Deputy President William Ruto yesterday said that he is not threatened by Jubilee Party plans to kick him out.
Speaking during meetings in Gatanga, Murang’a county and Juja in Kiambu, he said the party had already been ruined by the past removal of its key figures maintaining that no amount of effort can revive the outfit.
Ruto said he is ready to quit the dying ruling party for United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
“The plans of those we are competing with are to divide Kenya along tribal lines. We are telling them the way you broke up Jubilee, we are not threatened since we are already organised under ‘Kazi ni Kazi’ and UDA,” Ruto said.
According to the DP, the party was destroyed after the members accepted opposition leader Raila Odinga to scatter the party.
“You are not even ashamed that even after destroying a party that was meant to unite Kenyans and now that majority have moved out is when you are trying to salvage it. It is up to you to sell the party to whoever you wish,” he said.
He added that it is time those who ruined the party apologised to its more than eight million members.
Ruto said that he is determined to build UDA into a national movement “that will take over the space left by the dying Jubilee” by uniting all Kenyans without discrimination.
On his part, Garissa Township MP Aden Duale launched a brazen attack on Jubilee Party leadership over reports of a plot to kick out Ruto as the DP.
Addressing a rally in Juja, Duale dared the ruling party to remove the DP, asserting that the position is enshrined in the Constitution and remains as is until the end the next general elections.
He went ahead to explain that, should anybody want to remove Ruto as the DP, then they should follow the right channel as stipulated in law.
“The position of the Deputy President is anchored in law…the removal of the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya is well stipulated in the Constitution,” Duale said.
“You can remove the DP of the Republic of Kenya elected together with the President if he has committed a gross violation of the Constitution, if he has gone bankrupt or if he has a mental incapacitation.”
At the same time, Ruto ruled out the possibility of forming a 2022 election alliance with Raila.
He said those urging him to work with Raila were demeaning him and undermining his capacity to lead the country.