President William Ruto has told Kenyans in Mt Kenya not to worry of a handshake or nusu mkate between him and Opposition leader Raila Odinga.
He said that as the President the opposition cannot dupe him into an agreement.
"I told you( Kenyans) that I can't be cheated. Saa zingine mnakuanga na wasiwasi. Ati wale wanaweza kunichanganya. Mkinipima kweli, mimi ni mtu wa kuchanganuwa kweli?" Ruto posed.
The Head of State who was in Kirinyaga on Saturday, bragged of how he defeated Azimio in the August 2022 elections despite being with the 'deep state'.
Ruto insisted that the opposition cannot get into his government now regardless of the method they use.
"They did not manage us before, how will they do it then now? I told you there is no deep state that I don't know. I told you they could not steal my votes. Now you think now they can confuse us so that they get into government? Whose government?" he posed.
Ruto had walked with Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta since 2013 when they were elected, but things fell apart come March 2018 after the handshake.
On August 15, 2022, former IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati declared William Ruto the winner of the presidential contest after he defeated Raila and two other candidates in the August 9 polls.
Ruto garnered 7.1 million votes against Raila's 6.9 million votes.
By winning the presidential elections, Ruto had outsmarted two of his former bosses and allies – perennial aspirant Raila and his handshake brother Uhuru in the race to become the country’s fifth president.
In addition, The Head of State vowed that he will not be duped to enter into an agreement with the opposition like his predecessors.
"They confused my predecessors but hii serikali ya handshake hawatapata. Haiwezekani. Ati watapata nusu mkate, never. Tumekataaa mambo ya handshake na nusu mkate," Ruto added.
'Nusu Mkate' was a term coined to refer to the government of national unity similar to the one crafted in 2007 following the political standoff that ensued after the disputed presidential elections.
Raila would serve in the government between 2008-2012 as the Prime Minister under then President Mwai Kibaki after the two sides agreed to share power brokered by ex-UN boss Kofi Annan.
The term handshake refers to a political cooperation akin to Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta's deal with Raila in 2018 following the disputed 2017 presidential elections.
Allies of President Ruto have accused the Opposition of only being interested in sharing power with the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The opposition, however, refutes the same, insisting that their only interest is electoral reforms and the cost of living, which is too high.