Jubilee MP Claims President Kenyatta, DP Ruto Clashed at State House over Handshake with Raila

Nominated Member of Parliament Maina Kamanda claims that President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto clashed over March 9th handshake with opposition leader Raila Odinga.

The veteran politician says that Kenyatta and Ruto engaged in an ugly confrontation during a meeting with Jubilee party MPs at State House a few months ago.

Kamanda says the meeting was to rally MPs from the governing party behind the contentious Finance Bill 2018.

Kamanda who claims to be present during the meeting, which was held a few months after the famous handshake between Kenyatta and Odinga, says Ruto urged MPs loyal to him to reject the Bill in a bid to embarrass the President.

“I remember when we were called to State House as Uhuru needed us to pass the Finance Bill 2018 to help his government raise revenue for development. At that meeting, the Deputy President bitterly opposed his boss and even some of our Mt Kenya MPs were on his side," says the former Starehe MP.

"They were only interested in embarrassing the President,” he says during an interview with a local FM station.

The government through the Finance Bill sought to introduce an 8 percent value-added tax (VAT) on fuel products – a move that was widely unpopular among Kenyans.

The bill finally sailed through after Odinga and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka marshaled their MPs to back it.