Deputy President William Ruto has softened his stance and offered to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta unconditionally while welcoming offer by Catholic Church to mediate the rift between him and the President.
This comes after Catholic Bishops led by Archbishop Anthony Muheria voiced concern that pro-longed strained relations between the duo could trigger divisions in the country.
According to Ruto, their relationship was destroyed by enemies who advised the President to do away with the DP.
“I am ready to meet the President without any conditions….He is my boss and I respect him. Its such that enemies have come in between and intrigued the President to do away with the DP… But I am ready without any conditions because we were choosen together by Kenyans,” he said.
In an address to the nation, the Conference of Catholic Bishops said the discord between the two did not augur well for the country and its prospects of peace.
According to the bishops, by speaking at each other, and at cross purposes, Uhuru and Ruto are creating anxiety among the people and with it the potential to ignite political violence.
“We are deeply concerned that if this open disagreement between the president and his deputy is taken up by their supporters, the trickle down effect it could generate across the country will be dire to even contemplate. In a young country like ours, it’s important that there is unity among leaders as this gives confidence to the people,’’ said Muheria.
Kenyatta and Ruto have not being seeing eye to eye even to discuss government business.
Their fall-out plays out in their public utterances, Kenyatta, for instance, dared Ruto to resign from government if he is dissatisfied with its operations and the direction it is moving in.
Kenyatta told off the DP for criticising the same government that he serves yet being unwilling to ship out, hence leaving the country in a state of confusion over his stand.
However, Ruto said that resigning from his position is the last option he can ever think of despite the frustrations and challenges he is facing from the government.
The strained relationship started after the Handshake between the President and Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga.
