By Judith Gicobi
President Uhuru Kenyatta has said he will transfer power to William Ruto, his deputy, who recently won elections but has said Raila Odinga remains his leader.
“I will hand over power smiling because it is constitutional. Aluta continua but I will leave knowing Raila is my leader,” the outgoing president said during an Azimio party Parliamentary Group meeting.
Although Kenyatta had made it apparent that he preferred Odinga to be his successor, Ruto ultimately won the poll.
Odinga even filed a challenge at the Supreme Court, which dismissed his evidence as “hot air.” He claimed that the electoral commission had stolen his victory.
Now scheduled to take the oath on Tuesday of the following week, Ruto will officially succeed Kenyatta as the nation’s fifth president.
“Don’t think that you have denied Raila,” Kenyatta told Kenyans, “You have denied yourself the opportunity of bringing the country together,”
Together with Odinga, Kenyatta served as the meeting’s co-chair as they worked to reach agreement on the party’s nominees for the top leadership positions in the National Assembly and the Senate.
“Tomorrow I want to see whether you are in Azimio, if you are in Azimio stay in Azimio,” Kenyatta told the coalition members ahead of a vote in Parliament, insisting, “We are the majority.”
The nominations of Kenneth Marende for the National Assembly and Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka for Senate Speaker were endorsed by the coalition at the meeting.
