Uhuru, Ruto bond still strong, says State House

The relationship between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto is still strong, State House spokesperson Kanze Dena has said.

Ms Dena dismissed claims of a split in the presidency in light of the President’s outburst last Sunday believed to be aimed at politicians from his Central Kenya backyard.

The politicians under the Tangatanga banner are allied to Dr Ruto and in support of his bid to become president in 2022.

Uhuru said the politicians were undermining him. He called them “mikora” and vowed to crush them soon.

At a Press briefing in State House yesterday, Ms Dena said the President’s outburst was “open” and that he was fed up with early politicking when development should be on top of the politicians’ agenda.

She insisted that the President and his deputy were on the same page and that they had even attended most functions together, including last Sunday's.

“Those are rumours, propaganda and division being sown by those who wanted such a split between the two,” said Dena.

“They are speaking from the same page that projects and development will be done. That is their direction as of now, in order to work for Kenyans… we’ve seen them work together and not only just at one function,” she added.

She said Kenyans should "expect development" and nothing more from the President's outbursts.

Dena added that the President had been working tirelessly to create jobs for the youth. “One of the biggest concerns the President has is the unemployment among the youth,” she said.

She said Uhuru had last year met with global financial services firm, Mastercard, in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and discussed youth unemployment in Kenya.

As a result of those talks, Dena said, on Thursday a programme for the youth would be launched by the President and Mastercard.

“The function will provide directions and provide solutions on how the youth can access jobs,” she added.

Dena also explained why a section of small traders and importers were still not able to access their containers at the Inland Container Depot despite the President’s directive that all of them be released.

“There were some strict laws that still had to be followed to ensure all cargo met standards and would not harm Kenyans,” she said.

She, however, assured small traders that the President was keenly following the matter.