before he got there, democrats and republicans in washington announced they had reached an agreement in principle on border security that they hope will avoid a second government shutdown. bahrainy footballer hakeem al—araibi has arrived in melbourne, in australia, as a free man. mr al—araibi boarded a flight early on tuesday after bahrain dropped its bid to have him extradited from thailand. he was arrested in the country while on his honeymoon. one of brazil's best known political journalists, ricardo boechat, has died in a helicopter crash. the aircraft crashed on top of a lorry in sao paulo‘s busy ring road. the pilot has also died. the driver of the lorry was rescued by paramedics and suffered minor injuries. you're up to date with the headlines. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen

sackur. kenya has big ambitions to be the economic and infrastructure powerhouse of east africa, but that can't happen without political stability. and right now there are worrying signs of factionalism and fragmentation at the top of kenya's politics. my guest is william ruto, two term deputy to president uhuru kenyatta. their partnership has papered over many political cracks in kenya, but is it starting to crumble? william ruto, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. let us talk

about the security situation in kenya. last month saw another jihadist attack in nairobi. 50 people were murdered. why is the kenyan government seemingly incapable of eliminating the threat posed by al—sha bab incapable of eliminating the threat posed by al—shabab and the jihadists? terrorism is an international challenge. no country in the world has ever claimed to eliminate terrorism. we keep working at it. what i can tell you is that we are getting better at dealing with this challenge. if the response of the attack was anything to go by, the response time was seven minutes. all systems were there. in fact in

oui’ all systems were there. in fact in our opinion we scuttled what these characters wanted to achieve and minimised what they managed to achieve. i don't think anybody would argue that the security response after the attack was initiated was much better than that seen in the horrible westgate shopping complex attack, which is now more than five yea rs attack, which is now more than five years ago. but really the trouble seems to be that in terms of intelligence and basic counterterrorism kenya is still not getting it right. and there are security sources in east africa who say that your lack of cooperation with somalia and other neighbouring countries is jeopardising the security of your citizens. far from what you have said. in fact, the improved security situation in our region. remember that this attack is

coming after many months and years after what happened in westgate, telling you that in between... five yea rs telling you that in between... five years and what lessons have the actually learned? in between we have managed to resist, to eliminate, to thwart many attempts that were made. and, for the record, we are core operating with many countries, the uk, the us, our regional partners. in fact, our position in somalia is actually solid. in fact, what we are doing in somalia is actually minimising. otherwise there would be many attacks in our region. is it true, as reported in the kenyan media, that there were multiple warnings passed to your government in the months before the january 15 attack? these are routine. is it true? these are routine alerts and

whittled those alerts seriously and we continue to take alert seriously and that is why we have managed to campaign that situation to a minimum. do you think it is useful in terms of the counterterrorism strategy to abuse human rights klose we have seen recent reports from amnesty international that it is beyond doubt you are using arbitrary detention, sometimes torture, a series of serious human rights abuses as part of your counter—terror strategy? abuses as part of your counter-terror strategy? that is far from the truth. we are a democratic nation. we have since moved the country to a new constitutional disposition. human rights is at the heart of the constitution and informs every government decision and approach that we make on dealing

with security in our country. 0k. and approach that we make on dealing with security in our country. ok. if government spokespeople after the publication of the last human rights watch report said that any abuses would be looked into, and there was a catalogue of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, are the true detention and torture. so you tell me since the report was published sometime ago what has the kenyan government done in terms of accountability for those in your security forces said to be carrying out these actions? the independent police has the requisite, constitutional and legal powers... who has been held to account? any investigations that are in that direction... who has been held to account? those people making those claims need to step forward and provide the evidence to the independent oversight authority. it is not the police investigating themselves. we have independent institutions who have constitutional power to make sure that this happens. how many members of your security forces have been held

accountable for abuses? in most cases, today it is normal for policeman to be held to account, unlike in the past. we have records that exist police officers who have been... isn't the truth, mr deputy president, that nobody has been held to account for abuses in your counter—terror operations? to account for abuses in your counter-terror operations? can i ask you are they proven? if there are proven incidences of police have been held culpable for human rights abuses and they have not been prosecuted, i would be happy to know, who, where is the evidence? are there incidences where there are police? there is evidence, there is documented information on abuse, and yet prosecution has not been done. i would be happy to know and i can promise you we would take action. just a final thought on the security situation. you refer to kenya's commitment to the un presence in somalia and kenya launched its own

massive military operation in somalia in 2011, so for many years kenya is being committed to trying to deliver security in somalia. it has to be said, full of those years, all of the resources and commitment, it is not working. so what is your long—term strategy for somalia ? it is not working. so what is your long-term strategy for somalia? we have taken the position that this is not a kenyan decision to make, this is kenyan and international decision. we are responsible partners under amisol. we will work with other countries. the initiative under the un to make sure that we secure somalia. we have a vested interest. this is our neighbours. -- amisom. if i may, shorthand, you are telling me your military commitment in somalia is open—ended, indefinite. it is indefinite until we are certain that somalia is safe. up we are certain that somalia is safe. up until somalia is safe, it would be reckless for us to walk away from a threat that threatens our country.

0k, a threat that threatens our country. ok, so we have dealt with one aspect of kenya's current situation. of course, kenya and your government committed to an agenda which you called the big four agenda of establishing in your country use universal healthcare, establishing in your country use universal healthca re, affordable housing, food security and real growth in manufacturing. that is what president kenyatta has committed your administration to, so of course you need security stability. you also need political stability. you also need political stability. if we look at the political situation inside the government today, it is riven by factionalism, byjockeying for position, and you in particular are seen as position, and you in particular are seen as somebody who has in a sense lost that solid partnership with president kenyatta, and that is now seen as a source of president kenyatta, and that is now seen as a source of tension. let me tell you for the record, the understanding between me and president kenyatta is rocksolid. we

know where we are, we know where we are going. our assembling of the big four was informed by the success that became the programme for the country over the last five years. we have a solid track record to rely on. 600 kilometres electricity connections renting to 6.9 million. we have a whole universal healthcare programme. mr deputy president, you have grand ambitions and you have big targets. the problem is there is a cancer eating away at your government and you know what it is, it is corruption. the auditor general of kenya said in the middle of last year that high—level corruption across all levels of government in your country threatens

the integrity and basic functioning of the state. the government as it is constituted today is simply focused on the big four. we have made that clear. but you can't deliver on your focus if you have this cancer of corruption eating away at the state. we have taken corruption head on as a government. in fact, there is no government after independence that has taken corruption as seriously as this administration. for the very first time. i don't know how you can say that, mr deputy president, when your ethics committee released a national survey recently which found and i quote, the figure for those who pay bribes for receipt of government services has risen to 62%, 62%. let me tell you, sackur, if there is an administration has taken the fight against corruption that has been

unimaginable, it is this administration. that isjust words. look at action. even the most signature infrastructure project like, for example, the china funded railway between nairobi and mombasa, it has been undermined by senior government officials who are on the take, who have been convicted in the last year of taking systematic bribes. for your information, in fa ct bribes. for your information, in fact you have given an example of how successful our anticorru ption mechanisms are bearing fruit. any person involved in corruption knows today in kenya that they will not escape. on the 22nd of august the ipsos polling organisation asked kenyans which politicians in your country they believe to be corrupt. people were asked, this is the question, all the current and past but a live political leaders you can

think of, which one do you think is the most corrupt. guess who came out on top? your guess is as good as mine. you, 3396 on top? your guess is as good as mine. you, 33% chose you, william ruto. why do you think you are seen by so many kenyans as being the epitome of a corrupt politician?“ you look at that list, they put william ruto, they put a former president, they put the current president, they put the current president, they put the current prime minister, the former prime minister. largely all the political leaders that exist today in kenya we re leaders that exist today in kenya were in that list in that order. and what does that tell us about the political culture of politics? that tells you that the whole corruption narrative has been politicised. that is what it boils down to. that is not what it tells me, it tells me that your citizens have absolutely no faith in all of the words that you and others give to me about your pledge to clean up the country, to deliver on corruption. they don't

believe a word of it. let me tell you, sackur, we have the fight against corruption. and i want to tell you that the country today believes strongly that this government, this administration is serious about the fight against corruption. tell me about the western hotel. there are results clearly bearing fruit. the number of prosecutions, the number of convictions, if they are anything to go convictions, if they are anything to 9° by convictions, if they are anything to go by it tells you that the country has changed the trajectory on what it has to do with corruption. tell me about the western hotel, which you own, which is worth an awful lot of money and which is sitting on illegally acquired land. western hotel is a big story.“ sitting on illegally acquired land. western hotel is a big story. it is. you would want to believe that the western hotel occupies half of

nairobi. western hotel sits on seven hectares of land. illegally acquired land, which actually belonged to the civil aviation authority, and you miraculously acquired it and built a hotel on it. for your information, weston hotel on it. for your information, westo n h otel hotel on it. for your information, weston hotel was bought. hotel on it. for your information, weston hotelwas bought. illegally. for the record, the national land commission has made a finding that weston was an innocent purchaser for value from somebody who got it illegally. and reparations have been made. constitutionally, to restore that land to kenya's civil aviation authority, by demanding that those who sold the land to us must pay. just on this point of trying to persuade the kenyan public that you and other people on top of politics in kenya are committed to the anti—corruption fight, and frankie to integrity at the top of government, why have you not

followed the president's instruction in what he calls a lifestyle audit, to actually go public with all your wealth and asset, itemise all of it, and show it to the kenyan public? you haven't done it, have you? the record, i am the only politician in kenya who has subject to a lifestyle audit, no other politician for the so can we now see the audit, no other politician for the so can we now see the audit? will be made public? the audit has been done by the media, it is in the public domain. in fact, by the media, it is in the public domain. infact, what by the media, it is in the public domain. in fact, what has happened is there is... at the moment we are all working on getting a legal framework where lifestyle audit can be conducted for every public servant. starting from me. so you have published your... i am not sure that kenyans know this. you are telling me that you have... it was done by the media for the no, but this is nothing to do with the media, this is a form that all public officials are supposed to file, giving all public assets. so if you have got it, i would love to see it and so would the kenyan

people. you are behind the news on that matter, you are behind the news. every public figure by law is supposed to submit a list of assets and liabilities to the speaker of the national assembly. and liabilities to the speaker of the nationalassembly. that's and liabilities to the speaker of the national assembly. that's right. that i have not tried, that i have done. but you keep telling me the media have done it for me. this is not a question of the media. the media has gone further, to carry out a lifestyle audit on william ruto, the only politician who has been subjected to a lifestyle audit. so when you did the sums and new catalogue or the assets, how much we re catalogue or the assets, how much were you worth? that information is available in the public domain. well, great, tell me. you should have done some research before you can get. but if it is in the public domain, it is not a secret, so tell me how much you are worth.“ domain, it is not a secret, so tell me how much you are worth. it is in the public domain, i encourage you to google and find out what william ruto opens. will you or will you not

tell me, given that you say you have been completely open and public with it, and that every kenyan does this figure, according to you. will you shared with me? i encourage you, sackur, to go to the website of the parliament and get that information. so you are not prepared to tell me that information. i am prepared to tell you where to find that information, sackur. do you think session you are taking with me makes any sense? of course, it doesn't make sense to you? you claim to be open and transparent and yet you won't tell me what you are worth. why don't you want to do your homework? i am very keen to do my homework. please do your homework and get the numbers, and i want to promise you, when the legal framework is established, finally, by all of us as government, william ruto will submit himself to lifestyle audit. i have nothing to hide, i have earned every cent that

i own. see, i am hide, i have earned every cent that iown. see, i am a hide, i have earned every cent that i own. see, i am a little confused, because you say you have already done it, and now you tell me in the future tense that you will commit yourself to lifestyle audit. i'm very confused about whether you've actually done it. what the law provided, sackur, ifi actually done it. what the law provided, sackur, if i can educate you a bit, what the law provided for is that everybody must submit the list of assets and liabilities to the speaker when you are running. we have since elevated that to the next level, that there must be a lifestyle audit, and the legal framework is being worked out for it. but what i told you is that the media has already carried out a lifestyle audit on me. what did you feel when the deputy chairman of the party in which you have been a part, with kenyatta, ruling kenya, the jubilee party, the vice—chairman of this party resigned from his post saying he felt there was an unacceptable saying he felt there was an u na cce pta ble conflict of saying he felt there was an unacceptable conflict of interest as he now felt he had to join a legal

case against you to ensure that you could not run for president in 2022. people close to uhuru kenyatta have com pletely lost people close to uhuru kenyatta have completely lost faith in you. the person that matters to me is uhuru kenyatta. for your information, the vice chair, the one you are referring to, walked away. david. david, because he overreached himself, and said things that wanted the country to believe that that was the country to believe that that was the position of uhuru kenyatta, when it was not. morati says you are not fit to be kenyan's next president. are very many people who are opposed to my candidature, but there are millions who believe that i am fit for thejob. and i want to millions who believe that i am fit for the job. and i want to tell you that it will not take one person or a gang ora that it will not take one person or a gang or a group to decide who becomes president of kenya, orfor that matter, who becomes the candidate ofjubilee. it will take the entire jubilee party leadership,

and it will take 45 million canyons to decide who becomes president. but you see, if one looks at politics in kenya today, we see faction fighting, we see, according to the nation is paper in nairobi, that inside the jubilee party, nation is paper in nairobi, that inside thejubilee party, which you refer to, your ruling party, there are now different factions, and that you have a group of young activists working for you who are now actively seeking to push your candidacy for 2022. what is your doormat going on? let me tell you, julie is focused. the last five years we did a tremendousjob. these phobias, we will do even better. and for your information, we are focused. what you read there is stories, newspaper stories, people trying to sell newspapers. using fake headlines, fa ke newspapers. using fake headlines, fake news. but with respect, it is not stories. and for your information, all that has no basis

at all. it is not stories when the president himself said very recently of the next candidate for the ruling party for president, he said the public willjudge party for president, he said the public will judge the party for president, he said the public willjudge the potential candidates for president in 2022 based on their policies, rather than any political party affiliation, all we are in the country they come from. in fact, we are in the country they come from. infact, it we are in the country they come from. in fact, it does look a given that he has just appointed the interior minister to chair the key committee supervising the government's big ambitions, as though you have been sidelined. those sidelined stories are stories that have no basis at all. the functions of deputy president... but you have been sidelined. the functions of the deputy president ari in the constitution. the president and i agreed on how we are going to make government much more efficient, and to deliver. is committee has been instructed to supervise all the key government projects and ambitions. not you,

him. he is committee is a cabinet committee. that committee reports to the president and myself. how on earth can you talk about sidelining, if the same committee ultimately reports to the president and myself? we remember the political violence, the ethnic and tribal violence, that came in 2007 and 2008, when frankly, kenya was close to tearing itself apart, because there were leaders who were representing their factions and their tribe rather than the national interest. with all of this factionalism and jockeying for position that i have just discussed with you, isn't there a danger that kenya will fall back into that very dangerous situation? for your information, jubilee party is made on the firm and strong foundation that we will never go to personality cults, ethnic politics, and tribal

groupings. and that is why the jubilee party, for your information, it is not for me, or indeed any other person, to decide who becomes the candidate forjubilee in 2022. it will be the party, under the chairmanship of uhuru kenyatta as the party leader. but we will agree on who to front for the leadership of kenya. for your information, we are encouraging our competitors, who continue to be in factional parties, to assemble themselves into a national political party that can ta ke national political party that can take on jubilee, which national political party that can take onjubilee, which is a national political party. our philosophy, between president uhuru kenyatta, myself and the jubilee administration is to make sure that we assemble a national political party that will take the country to the next level, and avoid the pitfalls of the past, where politics was around personalities, around

ethnicities, politics must be about issues, about programmes, about taking the country forward. william ruto, we have to end there. but thank you very much for being on hardtalk. thank you very much, sackur. hello there. we may well be heading towards the final few weeks of winter now, but actually, the weather is feeling almost springlike, some slightly milder conditions certainly on the cards over the next few days. this was the scene taken near eastbourne by one of our weather watchers on monday. some blue sky, a bit of sunshine around too. now, as we head through the course of the next few days, still quite a lot of dry weather. there'll be a little rain across northern and western parts of the uk. things turning mild by day, but we've still got a few chilly nights to come, could be the odd spot of frost around, perhaps a bit of

mistiness around too. but you can see the yellow colours moving in from the south—west gradually over the next couple of days, introducing that milder air. the blue colours, the colder air, kept at bay for now. so through tuesday morning, then, it will be quite a chilly start across much of england and wales, particularly in the south and the east. we've got more cloud from the word go further north and west. a few spots of rain for parts of northern england, but also for scotland and for northern ireland as well, as a frontal system just moves its way gradually south—eastwards through the day. it should brighten up for scotland and for northern ireland during the afternoon, as those south—westerly winds help to break up the cloud. a bit of rain lingering for north—west england, but central and southern and eastern england should stay dry through the day. now, temperatures up to between around 10—13 degrees, so a little above average, really, for this time of year. now, as we move through tuesday night and on into wednesday, high pressure sits towards the south. we've still got this frontal system, which is just pushing its way gradually further north—eastwards moving on into wednesday morning. so, through the day on wednesday, still quite cloudy across northern and western parts of the uk. a few spots of rain,

particularly for parts of scotland. england and wales certainly staying dry through the day, and there'll be a bit more sunshine on wednesday, i think, compared to tuesday. so temperatures will be doing reasonably well once again, around 10—13 degrees or so, could see 1a celsius in the warmest spot. so, we've got that mild air with us into the middle part of the week, with high pressure sitting across the continent. we're drawing in these south—westerly winds. they stay with us through into thursday, as well, as weather fronts clear off towards the north. so i think thursday not a bad day, should be quite a good deal of sunshine, especially across england, wales, northern ireland too. perhaps a little bit more cloud for scotland, with one or two showers in the far north. but a largely dry day, and with those southerly winds, again temperatures will be up in double figures after a bit of a chilly start, 12 or 13 the warmest spots on thursday afternoon. looking towards the end of the week then, and we keep that mild theme to the weather. but it will turn a little bit more unsettled towards the end of the week, as those winds

strengthen, with some rain particularly in the north and the west at times. bye for now. this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top story: president trump rallies support for his border wall in texas — but it looks like a deal‘s already been done. back home — the bahraini footballer freed from a thai jail, arrives in australia where he has refugee status. i think the media, or the human rights and thank you and they will be more strong for this country. i would be strong herejust be more strong for this country. i would be strong here just for australia. the champions league resumes, with the first knockout stage, manchester united hoping to continue their good form. nissan without ghosn. the japanese carmaker‘s about to release its first set of earnings since its once all—powerfulformer chairman was arrested.