President Ruto: Why I appointed Uhuru as peace envoy

President William Ruto has justified his recent appointment of his former boss, Uhuru Kenyatta as a peace envoy in some conflicted regions across the continent.

President Ruto, speaking in an interview with Al Jazeera, reiterated that he is confident in his predecessor's capabilities to deliver in his new mandate.

On why he chose to install the ex-president despite their presumed bad blood and political rivalry, the Head of State intimated that he had put the past behind and is now focused on taking the country forward, irrespective of political affiliations.

“I am the big brother now, it is in my place to work with him. I think it is the right thing to do, and I will not allow negative energy to be built around our country. I believe Uhuru Kenyatta can bring value to the region,” he said.

He went on to underscore that his fallout with the form President Kenyatta was purely political and therefore it should not be misconstrued to mean he is harbouring a grudge against him.

"It was a competition. President Kenyatta had a candidate and he did not win, I beat his candidate...that is a democratic process which is behind us and we have a country to govern and a region to look after,” stated President Ruto.

The Commander-in-Chief likewise committed to ensuring peace and stability across the East African region saying he will work with Somalia and Ethiopian leaders to foster this.

During his inaugural speech following his swearing-in ceremony, President Ruto hailed Kenyatta for steering peace initiatives, especially in Ethiopia and the Great Lakes Region which comprises the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.), Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.

He ultimately announced of the new position he had requested Kenyatta to assume, which he said the ex-president had accepted.

"On the peace initiatives in our region including both in Ethiopia and Great Lakes Region, I have asked my elder brother President Uhuru Kenyatta who has done commendable engagement with those regions and he has graciously agreed to continue chairing those discussions on behalf of the people of Kenya," said Ruto.