Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has spoken out about the turbulent period he endured following the fiercely contested 2022 general elections, which saw President William Ruto declared the winner.
Addressing delegates on Friday afternoon during the Jubilee Party’s National Delegates Conference in Nairobi, Uhuru recounted how the election aftermath exposed him, his family, and political allies to serious threats.
He revealed that members of his family, as well as officials from his former administration, were specifically targeted, though he chose not to disclose who was behind the intimidation.
Despite the challenges, the former Head of State stressed that he remained focused on restructuring the Jubilee Party, including appointing new leadership to strengthen its future.
“Three years ago, at the end of the hotly contested general elections, we faced an atmosphere of hostility not only to our party but also to me, members of my family and members of my administration,” Uhuru revealed.
Adding, “But despite that, I stood at this same venue, ready to begin a process that should have been normal in any mature democracy. A process of rejuvenating our party and infusing it with new leadership.”
During the conference, Uhuru cautioned leaders against engaging in politics driven by bitterness, anger, or hatred, warning that such approaches only derail them from their mission and vision.
He emphasized that politics should reflect the collective will of the people, whether expressed through party members or by citizens at the ballot box in a democracy.
The former President also took aim at President Ruto’s administration, accusing it of misusing security agencies to intimidate and harm citizens instead of safeguarding them.
Uhuru maintained that his government had invested significantly in security infrastructure to strengthen interagency collaboration but lamented that the current regime was now deploying the same apparatus to instill fear among Kenyans.
“This machine that we built, however, was not designed to face its own citizens and wasn’t supposed to be a source of fear and conflict to our citizens. It was to protect them, not harm them,” he stated.
He further faulted the Kenya Kwanza government for allegedly interfering with the healthcare reforms he introduced during his regime, such as the Lind Mama, which he claimed were eradicated and replaced by ‘untried schemes’.
