What Raila Needs To Do Before Ruto Gives Him Govt Job

President William Ruto has hinted at offering a government role to former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, but has set conditions that the latter should meet before doing so.

Speaking on Monday, September 26, Ruto revealed that he would be willing to give Raila a job in his administration in case he offers himself to take part in state duties, but it must serve the best interests of Kenya and be in line with his development agenda.

Ruto added that the decision would rest upon Kenyans in the event the Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate offers himself to work with the current administration.

"When Raila Odinga decides to retire, and I think there are roles he can play as a Kenyan leader, he can support the country in other initiatives may be in the Great Lakes Region, he can work with us as an elder statesman, it is not for me to choose.

"It is a decision to be made by Kenyans. As president, I would deploy all the resources that we have for the good of the country and If Raila Odinga came by, I would find something for him to do but not in the handshake arrangement," Ruto told BBC News Africa.

Ruto reiterated his stance on the handshake agreement Raila had with former President Uhuru Kenyatta, noting that it destabilised the country and should not have taken place the first time.

"The handshake arrangement was the biggest fraud on the people of Kenya. It should not have happened. Once you compromise the opposition you are headed in the wrong direction, many wrong things will happen as it did," he said.

On the matter of Uhuru, the 5th Commander-in-Chief dismissed rumours that he had secretly worked with his predecessor to upset Raila in the August 9 general elections.

Several Azimio leaders, even human rights activist Boniface Mwangi, had accused Uhuru of being the main reason Raila lost the race to Ruto. Embakasi East Member of Parliament, Babu Owino, described the allegations as a long con.

Ruto insisted that he found out that Uhuru would not support the bid to succeed him as the next Head of State and had broken away from him to form his own formidable team to win the elections

"Difficult yes but it is the reality. You would waste a lot of time living in denial. When it was obvious that Uhuru Kenyatta was not going to support me I moved on and built another team, but by God's grace we won the election," he stated.

He added that he speaks to both Uhuru and Raila as leaders of Kenya and that their enmity is a thing of the past as they focus on building the country.

"Today I speak to Uhuru Kenyatta as our former president. I speak to Raila for your information. I speak to them. They are leaders in our country. We have a country to look after and we are not enemies. We were competitors, we are compatriots. Whether you are in the Executive as a president like me or opposition like Raila and his troops, we are serving the same country," he said.

Ruto also explained that Uhuru had decided to take up the position of peace envoy in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to give him space to focus on his campaign pledges and to offer leadership to the region.