President William Ruto gestures during an interview at State House in Nairobi on August 21,2026.

📋 Breaking It Down

President William Ruto has lifted the lid on a decade-long political marriage that collapsed in a heap, describing in unusual detail how he travelled to his predecessor's rural home, hosted him at State House, and repeatedly asked Uhuru Kenyatta to rise above politics — only to be rebuffed each time.

In a rare exclusive interview with the  Sunday Nation  at State House, Nairobi, on Friday, August 21, the President offered a front-row view of a rapprochement that failed, with the late Prime Minister Raila Odinga at the centre of the talks.

It is no secret that there is no love lost between Ruto and Kenyatta, once described as a dynamic duo. What the interview reveals is how hard, and how often, the incumbent says he tried to close the distance.

📌 What You Need to Know

"I went to see him in Ichaweri and also at his office next door here (next to State House) and sought to persuade him that as a former head of state, the only one living now, please help us forge a new vision for the country, but he was reluctant. He wasn't sure he wanted to do that. Well, those are choices people make. He chose to organise the opposition, sponsoring them…"

For the President, the hostility is no longer about the 2022 election. It is about his belief that the two men could have worked together for the country's unity after the transition of power — only for his predecessor to remain active in opposition politics.

Dr Ruto says the idea began not with Mr Kenyatta but with Mr Raila Odinga. He recalls sitting down with the former Prime Minister, who died in October 2025, arguing that Kenya's senior political figures should look beyond the next election.

"We are now the elders," Dr Ruto recalled telling him. "We are the leaders of this nation. Why don't we work together, grow a bigger vision that then we can hand over to the next generation of leaders?"

According to the President, Mr Odinga embraced the idea and agreed they should seek out Mr Kenyatta together. That is where, in President Ruto's telling, the story took a different turn.

On December 9, 2024, Ruto travelled to Kenyatta's Ichaweri home in Gatundu, Kiambu County, for a rare face-to-face meeting after years of estrangement. The visit was read as an attempt to reopen channels between the two former allies, and was followed by the appointment of perceived Kenyatta allies to the Cabinet.

📰 Source: Nation Africa