Deputy President William Ruto has downplayed reports that he almost had a physical confrontation with President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2017, after a disagreement over the Supreme Court ruling on the presidential petition.

Early this week, the DP was heard, in a leaked audio clip, admitting that he nearly slapped the Head of State following the unprecedented judgment of the Supreme Court that annulled their win.

But in an interview on Thursday, July 8, 2020, the country’s second in command said nothing could be further from the truth.

Ruto alluded that his comments were taken out of context.

“Honestly, that is figurative speech. Nobody can slap the president. That was a figure of speech,” Ruto said in an interview with KTN News.

“The point I was trying to make to this audience is that the president was almost giving up. I told him you are not going to do something silly like that.”

In the 90-second audio, Ruto is heard saying that he pushed Uhuru to participate in the repeat presidential poll after losing a petition at the Supreme Court in 2017.

The Kenya Kwanza Alliance presidential flag bearer was reportedly addressing elders from the Kikuyu community who paid him a visit on Friday, July 1, 2022, at his official residence in Karen, Nairobi.

The DP said he was involved in a heated argument that nearly degenerated into a physical confrontation with the president in State House on September 1, 2017.

Apparently, this was after Uhuru suggested that he was not keen on taking part in the repeat poll ordered by the seven-judge bench led by retired Chief Justice David Maraga.

Ruto on Thursday insisted that by pushing the president to take part in the polls, he proved that he was a genuine friend to the Head of State.

“When your friend is about to give up, you must be there to encourage and support them. You must be there to tell them not to make wrong decisions,” Ruto said.

“In fact, many Kenyans have actually even quoted the bible; Proverbs 27:6 they are saying a slap from a friend is better than a kiss from a friend.”

Ruto-Uhuru public spat

Responding to his recent war of words with the president, Ruto said he regrets the public spat, adding that he has never insulted the president.

“The record is going to bear me witness, I have resisted as much as I could to respond to my boss, many people say that William Ruto has insulted Uhuru Kenyatta, I have never insulted Uhuru Kenyatta,” Ruto said.

“In fact, I have had a discussion with him and have asked him directly that I hear there is this story that I have insulted you, can you produce one clip either from intelligence, or whether it was at night…or a private meeting where I said something against you, and he said it is not there…because I am a very careful person.”

While accusing the president of subjecting him to untold humiliation, Ruto said the president is to blame for what became of their once solid brotherhood.

“It is really unfortunate, and I regret the rivalry has gone this way…I have been a very patient person, the kind of humiliation I have been subjected to by my boss, nobody could have taken it. If it was Raila or Martha Karua, they could have done dreadful things already.”