‘It was an expression of anger’: Gladys Boss defends DP Ruto over slap audio

Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Boss has defended Deputy President William Ruto over a recent leaked audio in which he allegedly claimed he wished he could slap President Uhuru Kenyatta at one point following the nullification of their 2017 election win by the Supreme Court after a petition by then NASA leader Raila Odinga.

Boss argued that DP Ruto made the remarks in a fit of rage, albeit in a well-meaning manner, and that they should not be taken to imply that he disrespects his boss, the Head of State.

“Look at it in the context that it is an African expression; ‘naweza kukuchapa kofi.’ It doesn’t mean ntakuchapa kofi or I will do it, it is an expression of anger…I am disappointed in you, get your act together,” Boss said on Citizen TV’s JKL show on Wednesday.

“There is nothing wrong in saying that. I don’t think any one of us has never said that in any time of our lives.”

While quoting a Bible verse, the legislator went on to say that DP Ruto - being an ally of President Kenyatta at the time – used the expression as a show of concern for a friend about to make a bad decision in the moment.

“Proverbs says ‘a slap from a friend is better than a hug from an enemy.’ I wish I had friends like William Ruto who would slap me and say ‘Gladys wake up, pull yourself together, stand up and get a hold of yourself,’” she said.

On what could have led to the current state of acrimony between the two leaders, Boss shifted the blame to the Head of State accusing him of continuously slamming the DP during national events.

This, she explained, forced Ruto and his allies to fire back at President Kenyatta in response in a bit to clear his name.

“The Deputy President has been extremely measured over the years and has completely not taken into any provocation but I think slowly I saw the provocation develop," she noted.

 “I believe the bad behavior was started by Uhuru Kenyatta during the Sagana, launch of Jubilee manifesto, National Delegates Conference...By the time the president uses words like nye nye in a public function in front of a podium of a Head of State, that is a becoming behavior. I am responding to him now…We are entitled as Kenyans to respond to him.”