Raila Odinga has denied "handshake" talks with Ruto after their meeting during weekend, the opposition leader told local media.
Odinga, who run into the president on three occasions firstly at a burial in central Nyandarua county and later at two local football matches on Saturday and Sunday, described their meetings as chance encounters where no political discussion happened.
"We did not talk about anything other than football. For the record, we don’t want any handshake with the government and we have not asked for it," the opposition leader noted.
He also stressed that the meetings were not an "orchestrated move" to mend fences with Ruto, as some "political detractors" suggested.
"There was and will never be no handshake between me and Ruto," Odinga concluded.
The debunking comes on the back of yesterday's announcement by Odinga of new protests against the government, this time focusing on the proposed 16% added tax on fuel and the housing fund introduced by the Kenya government.
Ruto was the winner in Kenya's general elections last August with 50.49% of the vote. His main rival from the Azimio la Umoja (United Kenya) coalition, Odinga, came in second with 48.8%. He refused to recognize the election results and has led demonstrations since March against what he said was a "rigged" election.
The Kenyan president condemned the opposition protests, which turned into riots and caused material damage, forcing the closure of several businesses. Ruto claims Odinga is stoking a political crisis to force his government into a settlement to advance family business interests.