Museveni distances himself from Kenya’s polls

By Samuel Ouma [caption id="attachment_92856" align="alignnone" width="800"] Ugandan President Museveni in a handshake with Ruto while President Kenyatta looks on.[/caption] Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has indicated that his administration does not back any candidate in Kenya’s August General Election. There have been speculations that the Ugandan Head of State has thrown his weight behind deputy president William Ruto. During an interview with the Ugandan weekly New Vision on Monday, Museveni stated that the elections were solely the responsibility of the Kenyan people and that his country was not taking sides. "The elections in Kenya or any other country is a matter of the people of that country. Those people are the ones who are competent in deciding what to do. Supporting Ruto, we'll never do anything like that. We shall never take sides," he stated. In the past, Ugandans have expressed strong displeasure with Deputy President William Ruto's connection with the country's long-serving president, alleging that Ruto is interfering in the country's affairs. It was not popular with Uganda's opposition leaders when Ruto participated in Museveni's campaign trails in Kapchorua and Bukwo in 2015. Museveni hosted the DP at State House Kampala in 2019, where his friends accompanied him. However, no specifics of the three-hour meeting were made public. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni invited Ruto to be the primary guest at the official stone-laying ceremony for a vaccine production plant in July, prompting suspicion in Ugandan media about Museveni's likely interest in the outcome of Kenya's 2022 General Election. Kenya will hold its general elections on August 9, 2022, with the Presidency race dubbed a two-horse race between Ruto and the opposition leader Raila Odinga.