NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 7 – President Uhuru Kenyatta says he will hand over power to his Deputy William Ruto who won recent elections but declared he will recognize Raila Odinga as 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.
Kenyatta had made it clear that he preferred Odinga to succeed him but he lost the election to Ruto.
Odinga accused the electoral commission of stealing his victory and even filed a challenge at the Supreme Court which dismissed his evidence as ‘hot air.’
Ruto is now set to take oath on Tuesday next week, effectively succeeding Kenyatta as the country’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,”
Kenyatta was chairing the Azimio meeting alongside Odinga to build consensus on the party’s candidates for the National Assembly and Senate top leadership posts.
“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.”
During the meeting, the coalition approved the nomination of Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka for the Senate Speakers’ position and Kenneth Marende for National Assembly.
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