President Uhuru's daring revelations, "I would have turned other cheek if Ruto slapped me"

PEACE MATTERS

President says he was willing to quit after polls were nullified if that would end the political crisis

Briefs:

• The President said he was willing to go home to avoid bloodshed in the face of the tension that was prevailing in the country at the time.
• Says a peaceful country without bloodshed was more important than power.

President Uhuru Kenyatta during a non-denominational worship and prayer service with religious leaders from Central Kenya Region on July 8 2022.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has for the first time broken his silence on the claims that Deputy President William Ruto almost slapped him.

The President said if that was the case, he would have turned the other cheek for the DP to slap as the country's peace mattered more than power.

Uhuru told a meeting with the clergy that he was ready to quit after the Supreme Court nullified his election "if that would end the political crisis that ensued then".

"Some people are moving around the country claiming they wanted to slap me. If they had slapped me over power, I would have given them the other cheek to slap. Yes, I wanted to go back to Ichaweri because I couldn't compare power with bloodshed," Uhuru said.

The President said he was willing to go home to avoid bloodshed in the face of the tension that was prevailing in the country at the time.

"For me, a peaceful country without bloodshed was more important than power," Uhuru said of the moments which followed after the shocker by the David Maraga-led Supreme Court bench.

On July 3, an audio recording emerged in which Ruto was heard saying he almost slapped Uhuru in 2017 after he indicated that he was not willing to participate in the repeat election.

The recording which sparked a huge political debate ahead of the August vote was played by Suna East MP Junet Mohamed during a rally in Ndhiwa, Homa Bay county.

But Ruto defended his reaction to the Presidents sentiments saying there is no way he was going to let Uhuru give up the presidency to ODM leader Raila Odinga.

"Uhuru started showing signs of giving up. He told me he wants to go to Ichaweri. He told me that we quit the fight for the presidency. I looked at him and told him, you, it is because of respect but I would have slapped him," Ruto said.

"Even if I forced Uhuru Kenyatta to be President, is there a problem? Azimio supporters should stop this nonsense. They are spreading a recording saying that Ruto forced Uhuru to be president. If you were me, would you have accepted Uhuru to abandon us with the way we had pushed him?" he added.

While addressing the clergy in his Kikuyu dialect on Friday at State House, Uhuru differed with his deputy's take saying that he was willing to put the country first and let the presidency go and save the country from bloodletting.

"These seats we occupy (Presidency) are not more valuable than human life. I had said yes, I will not see more people lose lives because of a seat," Uhuru said.

Soon after the nullification of the 2017 election results, the country experienced a sporadic wave of violence with Raila, then under the defunct National Super Alliance (NASA), calling for disbandment of the IEBC.

Raila claimed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission had lost the credibility to conduct the repeat election as directed by the Supreme Court.

Raila boycotted the repeat poll and resorted to street action to force IEBC commissioners out of office.

The tense situation would carry on until March 9, 2018 when Raila and Uhuru reached a truce and made peace on the stairs of Harambee House with a handshake.