Deputy President and UDA party leader William Ruto was involved in a public meltdown as he fought back accusations that he plotted to impeach President Uhuru Kenyatta after the 2017 election.

Ruto, who was addressing a rally in Malindi, Kilifi County instead accused Uhuru, without mentioning him by name, saying they “have clearly run out of propaganda to peddle”.

“Ati Ruto anaweza kupindua Rais, mnagawanya wakenya for nothing. Wakenya wamekataa project yenu. Ati niweke serikali ndani alafu nifanye njama ya kupinduwa serikali? You must be confusing me with your project,” a visibly agitated Ruto said in Malindi on Sunday.

He went on, “As deputy president I know what I must do. I will never, I’ve never and would never do anything that would bring down the government!”

The DP instead claimed it was Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga who wanted to overthrow the government as he sought to divert the ouster heat from himself.

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“Respect those of us who campaigned for Uhuru Kenyatta. You are desperate spreading falsehoods and propaganda. I will never and have never been part of anything to bring down the government, shame on you shame on you, you deserve nothing but shame,” he told the president as the crowds watched in shock not knowing how to respond.

He was being hosted by Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa, who echoed his remarks accusing the DP's opponents of engaging in propaganda.


This comes a day after Uhuru hosted 3,000 elders from Mt Kenya at State House Nairobi and told them that his deputy had plotted to oust him and grab power through the back door.

President Kenyatta told the Agikuyu elders that his deputy had an insatiable hunger for power and focused on propagating dissent from within the Jubilee party to replace him.

During the session, Uhuru explained he reached out to ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga resulting in the March 2018 handshake that allowed him to proceed with his legacy projects.

He told the elders that his handshake with Raila helped him to stabilize his government and tame Ruto's grand scheme to sabotage his administration to grab power via the backdoor.

Uhuru said the DP had pushed him to play hard ball against Raila after the 2017 poll despite Kenya being divided right in the middle after the Supreme Court nullified his re-lection.

He explained that Raila was his preferred successor and termed Ruto as impatient and was more focused on the August 2022 succession at the expense of his official duties.