Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has finally accepted President William Ruto's legitimacy as the country's fifth Head of State.
Raila made the decision hours after meeting both Ruto and President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in Uganda on Monday, February 26.
In a change of tune, Raila who has always referred to the Head of State as 'Mr Ruto', called him by his official title 'President Ruto'.
The Azimio la Umoja leader did not call him 'President Ruto' once which his avid supporters would argue was a slip of the tongue, but he did it more than once.
Raila's acceptance of Ruto's Presidency was also printed conspicuously in a statement he published after meeting Museveni.
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"Several days ago, I accepted an invitation from President Kaguta Museveni of Uganda for a joint meeting with President William Ruto today to discuss the deepening of regional integration within the East African Community," his statement read in part.
"Crucially, at the urging of President Museveni, we also discussed my candidacy for Chairperson of the African Union Commission. I am very grateful to President Museveni for strongly endorsing my candidacy and to President Ruto for fully backing it," he added.
Raila had earlier announced that he would not recognise Ruto's presidency, claiming he is in office illegally.
Raila also demanded that the Kenya Kwanza government resign, arguing that it had neither the mandate of the people nor the ability to govern.
“We as Azimio reject the 2022 election results,” he said. “We cannot and will not recognise the Kenya Kwanza regime and we consider the Kenya Kwanza government illegitimate. We don’t recognise Mr William Ruto as President of Kenya and we equally don’t recognise any officials in the office with him.”
But with the bigger ambition in sight, Raila has decided to toe the line to win Ruto's support in his bid to become the next African Union Commission Chairperson.
After openly recognising and accepting Ruto's Presidency, the Head of State also vowed to popularise his AUC candidature.
