You're listening to a podcast from the BBC World Service. This is Hard Talk with me, Stephen Sacker.

Thanks for downloading this edition of the program. I do hope you enjoy it.

My guest today is one of Kenya's most powerful and controversial politicians. William Ruto is

serving his second term as deputy to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Ruto's decision to make a political alliance with the man who had been his rival

during the dark days of ethnic violence in Kenya around the election of 2007 has done much

to reshape the country's politics, and it's been beneficial to both men,

with Ruto long seen as in prime position to succeed his boss in the 2022 presidential vote.

But now cracks are beginning to appear. A cloud of allegations of corruption has hung over Mr. Ruto's head for years,

and some sources in the ruling Jubilee Party are now questioning Mr. Ruto's fitness for the top job.

Once again, ethnic suspicions and tensions are stirring, something which Kenya can ill afford,

as it presses ahead with big ambitions

to become the economic and infrastructure powerhouse of East Africa.

What happens to Kenya if the Kenyatta-Ruto Alliance crumbles?

Well, Deputy President William Ruto joins me now.

Welcome to Hard Talk.

Thank you very much, Stephen Chaka.

Let us talk about the security situation in Kenya.

Last month saw another jihadist attack in Nairobi.

Fifteen people were murdered.

Why is the Kenyan government seemingly incapable of eliminating the threat posed by al-Shabaab and the jihadists?

Terrorism is an international challenge. No country in the world has ever claimed to eliminate terrorism.

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