President William Ruto struck back at former President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday. At a rally in Kisii, he dismissed Kenyatta's claim that voters have already made up their minds about the 2027 General Election. Capital FM reported that Ruto questioned where his predecessor gets his information.
Ruto mocked Kenyatta's account of picking up public opinion while out buying uji (porridge). "I want to tell my brother, Uhuru Kenyatta, to get opinions from sober people, not drunkards," he said, according to Capital FM. He told Kenyatta to listen instead to farmers, teachers, doctors and Affordable Housing workers. Those people, Ruto said, would tell him that Kenya is moving forward.
Kenyatta spoke earlier on Wednesday at the funeral service of his cousin, Beatrice Wambui Muturi, at PCEA Nairobi West Church in Lang'ata. The Daily Nation quoted him as saying that people "have decided" and are ready for change this time. He said the opposition's only problem is unity. He named Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and DAP-K leader Eugene Wamalwa. He told them that only one person can hold the seat at a time.
Kenyatta urged the opposition to focus on the future, not the past. He maintained that he has retired from active politics. He also said he would visit Wamunyoro, Gachagua's rural home in Nyeri County, "when the right time comes". The Nation noted that the two men became rivals after the 2022 election. In his own remarks, Gachagua called his 2022 decision a big mistake and said he had "learned the hard way".
Ruto also mocked the opposition for celebrating recent by-election results. He said they had won only one by-election and should not read it as proof of national support. He quoted the Swahili saying "Mtu bure akipata, amatako hulia mbwata". Capital FM said it loosely describes someone who boasts about something they did not earn.
The opposition includes Gachagua's DCP, Musyoka's Wiper Patriotic Front, Wamalwa's DAP-K, Edwin Sifuna's Linda Mwananchi Movement and Fred Matiang'i's Jubilee Party. Groups led by Martha Karua, Justin Muturi and David Maraga are also part of it. According to the Nation, the leaders have promised to back one flagbearer. They still disagree over how to pick that candidate and who will lead the coalition.
Kenyatta backed Ruto in the 2013 and 2017 elections. In 2022, he supported Raila Odinga. Capital FM reported that Ruto has repeatedly accused his former boss of abandoning him after a decade-long partnership.