Outgoing president Uhuru Kenyatta and President-elect William Ruto have met for the first time since the August 9 general elections and after a very long time.
Ruto arrived at the Statehouse this afternoon for a tour ahead of his swearing in ceremony that is scheduled for Tuesday September 13, 2022.
He was in company of his wife Rachel and they were received by Uhuru and the outgoing first lady Margaret Kenyatta.
The two leaders are expected to address the nation after a closed door meeting.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, President-elect William Ruto meet at State House in Nairobi pic.twitter.com/DJn7uGV8tE
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) September 12, 2022
The two leaders have not been seeing eye to eye and after the Supreme Court upheld Ruto’s victory, he revealed that he had not talked to Uhuru for months in his acceptance speech.
He however said that he would give Uhuru a call which he allegedly did a few days ago.
“I had a telephone conversation with my boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta. We discussed the just concluded General Election and the transition as envisaged by our democratic tradition and practice,” the president-elect shared with Kenyans.
Uhuru and Ruto have had a strained relationship during the second term of the Jubilee administration which kicked off after the 2017 general elections.
Their split saw Uhuru shun from shaking his deputy’s hand whenever they met in public functions.
Their ruined relationship further saw the outgoing head of state support Raila Odinga as his successor contrary to their agreement, before 2013 general elections, that would have seen Uhuru support Ruto’s presidential candidature.
Despite that, Ruto defied all odds to succeed Uhuru. He also maintained that he will still be friends with Uhuru after everything.
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