During the Madaraka Day celebrations on Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta stunned the nation by breaking tradition and giving his speech before his Deputy, William Ruto.
The Deputy President must speak first before inviting the President to a national celebration like Madaraka Day, according to procedure.
The 59th Madaraka Day extravaganza held at Uhuru Gardens yesterday, however, was not like that.
Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga were not allowed to speak at the ceremony yesterday, according to new information.
According to reports, Ruto, who has served as Uhuru’s deputy for the last 10 years, was planning to steal the thunder from his boss during the celebrations by resigning as the Deputy President.
Raila, on the other hand, wanted to counter Ruto’s move by mobilizing his supporters at the venue to neutralize his political enemy and make sure that he does not make the news headlines.
It was rumoured that Ruto had mobilized his supporters who were expected to cheer him a move that Raila wanted to counter by ensuring that the Deputy President is booed when he resigns officially on the podium.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ruto met Members of Parliament and aspirants allied to his United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party and planned to mobilize supporters from their respective areas to attend the Madaraka Day celebrations to cheer him when he makes his announcement of resigning from his government post.
Raila campaigned in a hurriedly prepared road show in Nairobi on the same day, encouraging his followers to join the celebrations in response to Ruto’s move.
