It was not the happy ending that former president Uhuru Kenyatta wanted. He had backed former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the August General Elections’ presidential contest after falling out with his then deputy Dr. William Ruto.
In fact, after Dr. Ruto was declared the president-elect by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and his victory was upheld by Supreme Court, Mr. Kenyatta took days and criticism to extend a message of goodwill to Dr. Ruto.
In one meeting, he alluded that he would only be handing over power to Dr. Ruto because it is a constitutional requirement but that Raila Odinga would remain his ‘president’.
It was therefore an odd session for Uhuru, who had labeled Dr. Ruto as a ‘thief’ and vowed not to hand over power to ‘thieves’, when he handed over the instruments of power to Dr. Ruto at Kasarani on September 13.
To make matters, Ruto’s deputy Rigathi Gachagua staged an embarrassing outburst against Uhuru at Kasarani that not only left Uhuru embarrassed, but also left Kenya embarrassed before the world.
Following this hand over, many Kenyans were interested in how Uhuru would forge ahead as an ordinary citizen. According to a report that appeared in the Saturday Nation, Uhuru jetted out of the country after handing over power to Ruto.
Reports said that Uhuru was keen to keep a low profile and he opted to take a holiday outside the country. He returned last Friday and retired at his Nairobi residence.
Uhuru was slated to make an appearance at the thanksgiving ceremony of Raila Odinga that was held on the evening of September 29 at the Safari Park Hotel. However, he did not make the appearance out of fear that he would be mistaken to be in a campaign mode.
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It is further reported that after returning to the country, a top member of Dr. Ruto was sent to meet up with him. However, details of this meeting were not disclosed.
