• Gaping political fissures in both President's Central Kenya backyard and his own ruling Jubilee party.
• Ruto and his allies have intensified their 2022 campaigns, defying the President's warning against premature politicking.
Image: PSCU
President Uhuru Kenyatta rubbished Deputy President William Ruto's Tangatanga squad on Sunday as"criminals" busy politicking instead of focussing on development.
A visibly angry Uhuru read the riot act right in Ruto's presence and vowed to "crush" his detractors trying to derail his unity and progress agenda.
Ruto watched with wry smiles and frowns as his boss tore into the DP Tangatanga battalion in a ferocious assault.
It was a rant.
The President was addressing the Akorino Annual Convention at Kasarani Stadium.
Speaking in his native Kikuyu, the President warned for the first time that he should not be mistaken for a weak lame duck President.
"Let them not think they can threaten me. I will flush them out from wherever they are ....wait and see,” the President pledged, signalling a battle against Tangatanga MPs in his Central Kenya backyard.
The MPs allied to Ruto have refused to freeze 2022 campaigns as ordered by the head of state. They are also vehemently opposed to his handshake pact with Opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Uhuru said political attacks will neither intimidate nor stop him from achieving his goal of spurring development and uniting Kenyans.
“If you are a mheshimiwa, go back to the grassroots and build schools and connect people to power with the money you are given. Stop going around telling us how you are going to rise to power. There is nowhere you will go without these people,” Uhuru said.
“So let them stop making noise to me here because they appear in newspapers and on Facebook, the President said.
On Saturday, Ruto told off a section of Nyanza MPs pushing Uhuru to pick ODM leader Raila Odinga as his successor 2022.
Ruto maintained that his bond with Uhuru is intact, despite abundant and mounting evidence to the contrary.
"My friendship with President Kenyatta started long ago before he became President. I supported his ambition since 2002. Nobody should lecture me on how to support the President,” Ruto said.
But yesterday, Uhuru was merciless.
“All these criminals we elected and are only politicking should not think I am their uncircumcised boy,” Uhuru said.
Gaping fissures are deepening in both the President's Central Kenya backyard and in his own fractious ruling Jubilee party.
The cracks have resulted in the rival camps — Tangatanga and Kieleweke — splitting the once behemoth Jubilee right down the middle.
While the Tangatanga movement brings together politicians allied to Ruto, Kieleweke is slang for MPs opposed to the DP's bid to win StateHouse in 2022.
The Tangatanga movement has often accused Uhuru of hobnobbing with Opposition chief Raila and abandoning those who "made him President."
But on Sunday, a furious Uhuru said those politicians rode to power on his coattails because he mounted aggressive campaigns across the country.
“They have been going around here....they did not give me votes, it is me who looked for votes for them. It is you people who put me where I am. I will stand with that until I finish the work you gave me,” the President said.
He went on, “Have you heard me, my people? This rubbish should stop disturbing me ... Are we together? I want peace. I will seek peace for my people wherever I will get it so that even if it is 50 years, no one will be harassed from wherever they are.”
Let them not think they can threaten me. I will flush them out from wherever they are ....wait and see!Uhuru Kenyatta
The President said he will stay the course to unite Kenyans under the Building Bridges Initiative following the handshake pact with his former rival ODM boss Raila.
The statement was a strong endorsement of the handshake, coming days after Uhuru's visit to Nyanza where leaders from the region urged him to back Raila, the former Prime Minister in 2022.
Ruto and his allies have been denouncing Raila for allegedly exploiting the handshake to wreck the Jubilee party.
“They will not stop me from travelling the path I have constructed for myself and where I want to take Kenyans,” Uhuru ranted.
He said the handshake will ensure cohesion, expand business opportunities and heal historical wounds.