Kibaki helped me, Uhuru out of ICC cases – Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto now claims that the late Mwai Kibaki stood as a father to him and President Uhuru Kenyatta when they had troubles at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“He stood as a father to us when we had trouble with the ICC cases,” Ruto said during the burial ceremony of Kibaki.

The 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis was a violent political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted after Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election.

After the December 27, 2007 elections, ODM leader Raila Odinga alleged that the elections were shambolic and had been manipulated.

Chaos erupted as a result causing the death of over 1,000 persons and consequently, Ruto and President Uhuru were charged for having allegedly orchestrated the violence.

At the burial, Ruto said Kibaki impacted him personally by reducing the prices of agricultural inputs such as fertiliser when he (Ruto) was the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary.

Ruto also eulogized Kibaki as having enhanced higher learning opportunities after he pioneered a double intake system that brought to an end a long wait for high school leavers wishing to join university.

“Under his tenure when I was the Minister for Higher Education, we rolled out a TVET Program that President Uhuru Kenyatta has built on,” Ruto added.

The DP said that while Kibaki concentrated on major infrastructural projects in the country, his administration empowered the ordinary, a system he said birthed the bodaboda sector that has employed at least 1.4 million Kenyans.

Ruto at the same time urged Kenyans to uphold peace to ensure a seamless electioneering period that will not necessarily “require us to have a handshake”.