Rigathi Gachagua, the deputy president, has pleaded with his boss William Ruto not to be intimidated by the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya protest and ended up having to appoint Raila Odinga as part of his cabinet.
The successive governments that Odinga has been a part of have been confused since 2007, according to Gachagua, who was speaking at a thanksgiving service on Sunday in Tharaka Nithi.
He claimed that "those people tend ruining governments; in 1997, they phoned President Moi and entered into cooperation; they joined forces with President Mwai Kibaki in a grand coalition administration and sank it; they also did the same with President Uhuru Kenyatta".
He also corrected his earlier statement that the Kenya Kwanza government is a business with significant and insignificant interests.
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Gachagua asserted that those who supported the Kenya Kwanza government were the only ones eligible for government contracts and appointments while on a tour of Kericho county.
Gachagua stated that the Kenya Kwanza government would give the slightest regard to opposition members and reward its ardent followers and those who worked hard to put the current government in office.
"I did not claim that the government is firm; I compared it to one. You should anticipate reaping if you sow".
"I fully support you (President Ruto), but I am on the front lines of your administration to make sure that people who sow also reap," Gachagua continued.
President William Ruto, for his part, dismissed the opposition coalition's calls to block the hiring of commissioners for the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC).
To thwart the reformation of the election body, President Ruto instructed his bitter adversary Raila Odinga to fight for changes to the IEBC Act, stating that he would not tolerate impunity in the nation.
The Azimio Coalition is no longer affiliated with the IEBC commissioner recruitment process, alleging that President Ruto is trying to assemble an electoral commission to support his ambition for reelection in 2027.
"Those advised me to quit abiding by the law and the Constitution and instead comply with their non-legal wishes. I want to apologize and let them know that I won't be doing it", Ruto added.
He remarked, "If we do that, we will be encouraging impunity in Kenya," at a thanksgiving service in Tharaka Nithi County.
President Ruto underlined that he would uphold the law in his government, insisting that those who are displeased with the appointment of the IEBC commissioners seek legal redress through amendments.
Since no one is above the law, the President emphasized Odinga cannot make demands orally and expect them to succeed while legal principles govern the country.
"People who disagree with any element of the law should change that section. We'll all follow it until it's changed, but for now, we'll stick with the Constitution as it is", he said.
The Kenya Kwanza Alliance Leader insisted that the ongoing procedure for selecting poll body commissioners complies with the law while touring the county for the first time since taking office.
While the five institutions required to submit names of their nominations to the IEBC panel are under the IEBC Act, President Ruto defended the recruitment of the selection panel according to the law.
He refuted the claim made by the Azimio Coalition that the Kenya Kwanza administration was acting unilaterally in initiating the process.
"I simply looked at the list for the panel that will handle the IEBC commissioner selection procedure. Since the President has yet to be allowed to appoint anyone under the Constitution, I have no favoured individual that I have recommended".
