The latest exchange began during Ruto's development tour of Siaya on Tuesday, September 15, when the President turned his attention to Uhuru while criticising leaders associated with the Linda Mwananchi movement.
Ruto questioned how Uhuru, who was President during the 2022 election, could defeat him in 2027 after failing to prevent his victory while still in office.
“So Uhuru Kenyatta did not defeat me when he was President, and now I am the President, and he is retired — is he going to defeat me?” Ruto asked residents in Siaya.
“Look for another issue, please,” he added.
The President's argument was built around the events of the 2022 presidential election, when Uhuru backed Azimio la Umoja candidate Raila Odinga after falling out with his former deputy.
Ruto defeated Odinga in the August 9, 2022 presidential election, according to the official results, winning 7,176,141 votes against Odinga's 6,942,930.
The election placed Ruto in State House despite Uhuru's opposition to his presidential bid.
Four years later, Ruto is using that history to question Uhuru's ability to influence the next presidential contest.
But Gachagua has rejected the President's interpretation of the 2022 result.
In a statement on Wednesday, September 16, the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader argued that Ruto's victory did not necessarily prove that Uhuru's concerns about him had been rejected by voters.
“I have heard you brag and fallaciously argue that Uhuru did not defeat you when he was President and can't defeat you now that he is retired,” Gachagua said.
According to Gachagua, the more important point was that Uhuru had not persuaded enough voters about the case he was making against Ruto at the time.
“President Uhuru Kenyatta did not sufficiently convince me and a majority of Kenyans that you were incapable of leading the country, that you were viciously corrupt, and that you would completely ruin our country in less than three years,” Gachagua said.
“Today, you have proven to me and the whole country that President Uhuru was right.”
That response effectively shifted the argument away from whether Uhuru defeated Ruto in 2022 and towards whether the former President's assessment of Ruto has subsequently been vindicated.
Gachagua also rejected the suggestion that Uhuru should be treated as Ruto's main political opponent ahead of 2027.
“President Uhuru Kenyatta is not your opponent in this election. You are just trying a bad deflection. Your opponents are the people of Kenya,” he said.
He described the President's political challenge as one involving ordinary Kenyans rather than the retired Head of State.
“55 million Kenyans are your opponents,” Gachagua said, using the figure to emphasise his argument that the 2027 contest will be decided by voters.
Gachagua's intervention came as Ruto continued his political offensive in Nyanza, where he also criticised Siaya Governor James Orengo over his association with Linda Mwananchi.
Ruto accused Orengo of allowing himself to be used by Uhuru and mocked the political movement as “Linda Sponsors” and “Linda Sponyo.”
“I am telling Orengo to leave the outfit called Linda Sponsors or Linda Sponyo and join me in this development journey and build hospitals,” Ruto said.
“I am asking you people, did you choose him to join Linda Sponsors? Why does he allow himself to be a political stooge and puppet to be used by a former president who has retired? Orengo has really disappointed us,” he added.
The exchange has therefore placed the 2022 election back at the centre of the political debate, with Ruto presenting his victory as evidence that Uhuru could not stop him even while occupying State House.
Gachagua, however, is offering a different interpretation: that Uhuru's failure to stop Ruto in 2022 was not necessarily proof that his concerns about Ruto were wrong, but that he had failed to persuade enough voters at the time.
The dispute also provides an early glimpse into how the 2027 campaign could be framed by rival political camps, with the record of the 2022 election becoming part of the argument over Ruto's performance and the opposition's efforts to challenge him.
Gachagua has further claimed that opposition leaders are working towards identifying a single presidential candidate for the 2027 election, adding another dimension to the emerging political contest.
For now, the question at the heart of the latest exchange is not simply whether Uhuru can influence the 2027 election.
It is whether Ruto's 2022 victory should be viewed as evidence that Uhuru's political influence had already been defeated — or whether, as Gachagua argues, the election result reflected the failure to convince voters at that particular moment.
That disagreement is likely to remain part of the political debate as Kenya moves closer to the 2027 General Election.
Do you want to be published? E-mail info@thedailywhistle.co.ke or WhatsApp 0721930260
Comments
No approved comments yet.