National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohammed has revealed fresh details about a failed attempt by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan to mediate between President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in 2023.
Speaking during a media briefing at Parliament on Tuesday, August 11, Junet claimed that Ruto skipped a planned meeting with Raila despite Samia travelling to Kenya and spending several days awaiting the talks.
The Suna East MP alleged that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua played a role in preventing Ruto from attending the meeting.
According to Junet, the meeting was scheduled to take place at the Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki after Samia offered to mediate between Ruto and Raila following heightened political tensions and opposition-led demonstrations.
Junet said he travelled to the venue alongside Raila, where they met Samia and waited for Ruto, who was expected to join them the following day.
However, Junet claimed that Ruto later called the Tanzanian President and explained that Gachagua had threatened to resign as Deputy President if he attended the meeting.
“President Ruto called President Suluhu, and he said that my deputy president, Rigathi Gachagua, has told me you cannot go to that meeting. If you go, I will resign as a deputy president,” Junet claimed.
The Minority Leader said Ruto was concerned that attending the meeting could resolve one political crisis while creating another within his administration.
Junet’s account comes years after Raila disclosed that Ruto had reached out to Samia to help mediate the political dispute between the government and the opposition.
At the time, Raila claimed that Samia was kept waiting for several days by the government without an adequate explanation, eventually forcing her to return to Tanzania.
Raila said in July 2023 that his side had been ready and available for talks but that the government had failed to respond to the mediation effort.
Junet claimed that the incident contributed to growing opposition to Gachagua among ODM leaders, alleging that the former Deputy President had deliberately stood in the way of efforts to restore political stability.
“That is why ODM can never forgive Rigathi Gachagua because he wanted the destruction of ODM,” Junet alleged.
The claims come amid major political realignments ahead of the 2027 General Election, with ODM formally entering into a working arrangement with President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.
Junet’s latest remarks are likely to draw renewed attention to the political tensions that shaped the Ruto-Gachagua relationship and the events surrounding the opposition demonstrations and attempted mediation in 2023.