President William Ruto has said his administration will not entertain the idea of a handshake as the one that occurred between the former president Uhuru Kenyatta and Azimio leader Raila Odinga in 2018.
According to the head of state, an accountable government has to be held to account by a responsible opposition and that, with a handshake, there will be no line.
“We will have opposition in Kenya. We will not have a handshake that creates a mongrel of a government where no one knows where the line is. I believe in the rule of law. I do not believe in handshake stories,” he said.
Speaking Monday during the funeral of Pauline Nyokabi Kuria, the sister to Trade and Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, President Ruto said that his administration will not be blackmailed into serving the interests of a few people.
The President was responding to the Azimio leader Raila Odinga, who, on Monday during his rally at the Jacaranda Grounds asked his supporters to reject the Kenya Kwanza regime on grounds that the election results were manipulated.
“We reject the 2022 election results totally. We do not recognise the Kenya Kwanza regime and consider it illegitimate. We don’t recognize William Ruto as president of Kenya or any official in office with him,” Odinga said.
At Jacaranda, Raila demanded the release of the 2022 election data at the IEBC public for auditing by a foreign body adding that his team had investigated last year’s poll results and had information showing Azimio won.
The Azimio leader further pointed an accusing finger towards the Supreme Court, a company he didn’t name, and unnamed countries for allegedly taking part in the rigging of elections.
President Ruto dismissed Odinga’s claim that his presidency is illegitimate, adding that IEBC conducted a transparent election and he enjoyed a full mandate from Kenyans.
“Look for someone else to intimidate. I was elected by the people in broad daylight and you lost with the so-called deep state on you side,” he said.
The Head of State cautioned Odinga against engineering chaos through regular mass gatherings saying State organs will counter any attempt to make the county ungovernable and disrupt his administration’s economic transformation agenda.