Presidential aspirant Fred Matiang’i has mounted a fierce defense of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta against sustained attacks from leaders allied to the William Ruto administration, dismissing threats to withdraw Uhuru’s retirement benefits as baseless and petty.
Matiang’i accused government leaders of lowering the bar of public discourse and diverting attention from pressing national issues through coordinated attacks against the former Head of State.
“You hope that in a serious country like ours, there are things you do not need to spend time on. The kind of pettiness we have seen this weekend and primitiveness in addressing a retired president is shocking,” Matiang’i said.
The former Interior Cabinet Secretary, who served throughout Uhuru’s ten-year tenure in various dockets including the powerful Interior ministry, defended his ex-boss’s right to speech, saying the Constitution guarantees every person such freedom.
“In Nigeria, in the US, in the UK, former presidents and prime ministers speak, campaign, and attend public forums, and the world does not come to an end,” he said, pushing back against criticism of Uhuru’s recent political engagement.
Matiang’i suggested that some leaders were jittery about Uhuru’s activities following a phone call the retired president made publicly to address a gathering of Jubilee Party supporters in Narok last Friday.
“A retired president makes one phone call and the government screams the whole weekend. What kind of people are these? You have a country to run, a government to run, yet all your time is spent insulting a retired president,” he charged.
The presidential aspirant scoffed at the Ruto administration for what he termed as unjustified attacks that exhibit desperation. He pointed to internal turmoil within the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA), noting that some party members have announced they will not defend their seats on the ruling party’s ticket.
“On a weekend when your own party members are announcing they will not defend their seats on your ticket, when it is clear to the world you are a sinking ship, you choose to insult your predecessors,” Matiang’i said.
Last weekend, several UDA leaders told Uhuru to keep off the country’s political arena and enjoy his retirement while threatening to withdraw his benefits as a retired head of state. Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot led the charge, comparing Uhuru unfavorably to former Presidents Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki, whom he said retired peacefully to their farms.
“The late President Moi, when he retired in 2002, he went to his farm in Kabarak and never bothered to do the silly monkey games you are doing today. When Kibaki went on retirement, he respected the office that the people of Kenya had given him; he peacefully rested in his home,” Cheruiyot thundered on Sunday.
Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes, Geoffrey Ruku, also separately urged Uhuru to desist from criticizing his successor.
“When Uhuru was president, Ruto respected him fully as Head of State. His current posture does not reflect the same respect for the presidency. Why can’t he reciprocate?” Ruku asked.
On Monday, the Jubilee Party officially fired back, telling UDA to look for someone else to blame for their woes while insisting that Uhuru’s benefits are guaranteed by law and not a favor.
“We are particularly concerned, and indeed alarmed by reckless statements from certain political actors threatening punitive action against the former President, including the suggestion that his retirement benefits could be withdrawn,” Jubilee Secretary General Moitalel Ole Kenta said.
“Retirement benefits for former Presidents are not political favours to be granted or withdrawn at will. They are legal entitlements grounded in law, designed to preserve the dignity of the office and to ensure continuity and stability within our system of governance.”
The former President has also in the past been linked to squabbles within the opposition, with allies of the broad-based government accusing him of funding the Linda Mwananchi faction of the ODM party. Jubilee, however, accused the ruling party of looking for scapegoats through the use of Uhuru’s name.
As the political temperature rises, the debate has now shifted from policy differences to the limits of a retired president’s political expression—and whether the law protects his right to speak without financial retaliation.
