President William Ruto steered clear of the emerging rift within the United Democratic Alliance party (UDA) on Thursday as he led the National Prayer breakfast in Nairobi alongside his deputy Rigathi Gachagua who is at the centre of the storm.

This was the first time that the two leaders have shared a public platform since the President left for his state visit of the United States.  

"All Kenyans were monitoring what you were doing there. There is something you were doing there that brought many problems to many husbands in the country. Our spouses led by mine were demanding that we emulate the president and hold their hand wherever we go," Gachagua said in his address.

The sentiments by the Deputy President seemed to have eased what would have been an otherwise tense moment at the prayer meeting which comes amidst reports of discord within the ruling party UDA, a subject that the two leaders steered clear of with the President opting to preach the gospel of unity

Divisions within UDA have emerged, with two rival camps seemingly forming. One allied to the Deputy President and another seemingly opposed to him and which the DP has attributed to youthful rift valley politicians around the President as he put it.

"What you see is a mere difference of opinion in the ruling coalition like what you saw in hon malala and the rebuttle from the other leaders that is the beauty of our democracy in the uda party and it ended there," National Assembly Minority Whip Sylvanus Osoro, also in attendance, said.

"There is no disunity in the ruling coalition in fact if you read our constitution is states that we must accept criticism that is constructive," National Assembly Deputy Speaker Sylvanus Osoro added.

Their sentiments were echoed by UDA party Secretary General Cleophas Malala who termed the recent exchanges a sign of democracy.

The theme for this year's interdenominational prayer meeting was premised on hope. While acknowledging the significance of prayer in realising the country's milestones, President Ruto called for collaboration among leaders in addressing the country’s pending challenges

"We are still contending with the national debt and recovering our economy. We are privileged to be leaders in Kenya at this time and we understand the challenges and what we need to do let us have the courage to do the right thing no matter how difficult it is," said Ruto.