NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 17 – Former Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe has said he has not changed his mind about going to the Supreme Court to seek an advisory opinion on Deputy President William Ruto’s candidature in 2022.
Speaking to Capital FM News, Murathe hinted that he is still preparing himgivebut did not given specific timelines.
In an interview on Thursday, Murathe told his critics that his silence on the subject should not be misconstrued to mean that he has suspended his plans.
“Our legal team is working on the relevant legal arguments to present in court because the issue on whether a Deputy President can run in a presidential contest raises serious fundamental questions that must be addressed. But in the meantime, we will be starting with the constitutional court,” he said.
Murathe who has vowed to ensure that Ruto’s name is not included in the ballot said if the legal interpretation does not work in their favor, his team will be looking at other alternatives that would still make their plans on course to block Ruto’s candidature.
“It is a conversation that is happening with our legal team on whether to do it legally or politically because some of the amendments can be amended through a referendum so that there can be clarity,” he said.
Murathe, who has been silent on the 2022 succession debate following his exit from the ruling party two weeks ago, has reiterated that plans to also form a political formation to counter Ruto’s campaign machinery in 2022 are still underway even as he declared that he is still a member of Jubilee Party.
Without naming names or giving evidence on some of the individuals who back his thinking on the unsuitability of Ruto to run, Murathe said the formation which has ‘likeminded people’ already has its agenda clearly set out and intimated that it’s operations would be launched soon.
“Some of us who doubt Ruto’s suitability to ascend to power are obligated to sell our reasons to the public keeping in mind that the public may decide to either accept or reject our reasoning. But I can say with a lot of confidence that there is a lot of people who think that Ruto is not fit to lead this country and personally I still don’t believe that he should be president,” he said.
While responding to claims that some of the leaders had abandoned his plan to block Ruto’s candidature, Murathe said he will not be cowed by individuals whom he referred to as ‘cartoons’ and accused them of being part of the problem in Mount Kenya politics.
According to him, some of the leaders who are within the inner circle of Ruto are to blame for the ‘weak leadership’ in the expansive Mount Kenya region and said if prolonged, the region would be at risk of being starved of development.
“What they think is their democratic right, I don’t need them because I will go direct to the people. Most of the people surrounding the Deputy President are the cause of our agitation because they removed the right and preferred people in leadership in the Mount Kenya region and instead installed cartoons and I don’t care what they think,” he said.
Ruto who is keen to succeed his President Uhuru Kenyatta once his term expires, has categorically made it clear that he is not interested in any political endorsement from any quarter but instead affirmed that he will seek the mandate from the electorate.
