No Discussions with Raila on Elections, Deputy President William Ruto Says on Al Jazeera

Deputy President William Ruto has dismissed claims by National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga that there will be a fresh election in 90 days.

Speaking on Sunday during an interview with Al Jazeera, Ruto said that there are no shortcuts to clinching power and that Kenya is a constitutional democracy, contrary to what Raila and the opposition want to resort to.

"Kenya is not an animal farm where there are animals that are bigger than others. Kenya will move on and there will be no discussion with Raila regarding elections."

He added: "Our statement to our friend Raila [is that] Kenya is a constitutional democracy. Whatever he is alleging about an election is not in the constitution. However popular they are they cannot change constitution," he said.

He allayed fears that the country would take the 2007/08 post-election violence path, adding that Kenyans are not fools to take that route.

"The events of post election will not happen again. We are not fools. It is only fools who do not learn from their mistakes."

Ruto asked Raila to stop threatening Kenyans because it was his personal decision to pull out of the presidential race.

"Raila chose, out of will, not to participate in the election. Kenyans had nothing to do with that decision. He should stop threatening peace in the country," he said.

"Since there was only one region where violence was being experienced, the NASA leader and his agents are attempting to export the mayhem to other regions," he said.

On the legitimacy of Uhuru's presidency after the repeat poll, Ruto said that Uhuru had already met the legitimacy threshold as spelt out in the constitution. "We have already surpassed that threshold. That means that in terms of the constitution, the legitimacy question is already answered," he said.