Is Ruto a master tactician, letting proxies disparage Uhuru?

Love him or hate him, Deputy President William Ruto is a hardworking crafty politician whose political manoeuvres have left friends and foes perplexed.

The apex of his calculation, so far, is the way he has managed to avoid any overt confrontation with his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, in the midst of Tangatanga and Kieleweke factional fighting.

Observers say that in public, Ruto’s body language can be by turns defiant, submissive, cowardly or tactful.

The DP has, however, remained silent and avoids altercations with the President on key issues, despite Uhuru's reprimands targeting his allies — and by clear inference, Ruto himself.

The DP's team, nicknamed Tangatanga, has defied the President’s call for a political ceasefire and has been campaigning and conducting itself in readiness for the 2002 General Election.

Ruto’s allies have, however, have boldly launched scathing attacks against key officials in the Jubilee administration.

The DP recently pulled a shocker when, despite having the powers to summon and dress down his official subordinates, chose to rant at what he termed contempt by Interior CS Fred Matiang’i and PS Karanja Kibicho.

So worrisome is the situation that the Tangatanga team — which already says there's a plot to block Ruto's path to the State House — has taken it a notch further by claiming there's a group tasked to stop Ruto from ascending to the presidency.

At the start of this year, Uhuru appointed Matiang’i chairman of the Cabinet Committee implementing state projects, which is believed to have created animosity between him and Ruto who has been campaigning with state projects. The elevation of Matiang'i is seen as a way to undercut Ruto.

Political analysts say Ruto has to tread carefully not to fall into the trap of attacking Uhuru directly — surely a great temptation — which, they say, would be his last gambit and the end of his game.

“The President is pushing Ruto into a corner so that he can make a blunder. The moment he says anything bad about Uhuru, that will be the last day he will set foot in Mt Kenya,” University don Herman Manyora told the Weekend Star.

He drew a picture from the launch of the Building Bridges Initiative report at Bomas of Kenya where the DP’s body language openly contrasted with that of the handshake principals.

Pro-handshake MPs last Wednesday told Ruto to address his woes to the President instead of attacking civil servants, or resign.

“The DP likes to remind everyone who cares to listen that he is the second in command, yet his obsession with civil servants, who are his juniors, underscores deep insecurity, painting him as one not sure of himself, his worth and his future. He has only two options are to face the President or get out of government and chart a new political path,” Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga said in a statement on behalf of the 13 MPs.

The DP seems to have taken control of Central, pulling key politicians from Uhuru’s grip. Among the MPs in his camp are the President's MPs Moses Kuria (Gatundu South), Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), youthful Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu), Alice Wahome (Kandara), and Kimani Ichung’wa (Kikuyu).

Nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi says Ruto is the face and financier of the Mt Kenya rebellion narrative driven by his colleagues coalescing around the Deputy President.

“The speeches made by the MPs are choreographed and largely mirror his [Ruto's] thinking and agenda. They have ignored the President's directive to stop politicking.”

“In fact, every time Uhuru tries to get Mt Kenya to focus on his agenda, Ruto takes them back to the politics of 2022. I think he is trying to use Mt Kenya to blackmail Uhuru to support him in 2022,” the ANC lawmaker said.

At the heart of Ruto’s ultimate political test is the side he will take on the Building Bridges Initiative. He has not been forthright on the process.

On November 25, Ruto supported a parliamentary initiative, a take that put him at cross purposes with Uhuru and ODM leader Raila Odinga.

The handshake principals supported a popular initiative, which Ruto allies — in a change of tack — later declared they would support.

When anti-graft agencies reported the suspected loss of Sh21 billion in the Kimwarer and Arror dam projects, Ruto rejected the claims, saying  "only Sh7 billion" had been paid out but taxpayers hadn't lost a shilling.

The President recently sought the dissolution of post-handshake women's groupings — Team Embrace and Inua Mama — but that is yet to happen.

Whereas the Embrace team, which is pro-Uhuru and Raila, has slowed down their activities, their Inua Mama colleagues who are linked to Ruto have maintained their grouping is strictly apolitical and dedicated to empowering women.

here has also been contention over harambees, which critics say are conduits to launder graft money. The DP says he only gives money for godly works at harambees but says his critics give their money to witchdoctors at night.

But so determined and persuasive is the DP in devising survival tactics that the President himself also recently showed signs of buying into the idea, and even donated Sh3 million for a church.

Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa, who is one of Ruto’s allies, says the DP’s manoeuvres are not just a matter of being tactical.

“It is a matter of the DP minding his own business, doing what the Constitution requires him to do...what Kenyans asked him to do and what the Jubilee Party envisaged in its blueprint and manifesto,” the MP said on Friday.

Barasa argued that the so-called rift between the DP and his boss is a creation of “a few people who call themselves ‘the system’ but are simply conmen and cantankerous characters”.

“They have become more than women in matters gossip. The DP has decided to continue with his work without focusing on the Terrible Four who think they represent the system.”

“The government system is well anchored in the Constitution and the presidency is one arm. There is no way you can discuss Uhuru without mentioning his deputy…there is no way you can claim to respect the President and not his deputy,” the lawmaker said.

He said the DP at least understands that power is temporary, transferrable and that anybody can occupy a powerful office.

“It is only a matter of when, but not where you are coming from. That is why the DP has remained loyal, submissive, down-to-earth and mingling with people from all backgrounds.”

“He has been eating in vibandas because he understands that God works with humble beginnings,” Barasa told the Star on the phone.

And on the cards to tame the Terrible Four is a plan for a Jubilee conference early next year followed by national elections.

“There are a number of things we feel are not being done right and as a party, we have not given up on pushing for a meeting. We want elections next year to put the right people in the right positions in the Jubilee Party,” Barasa said.

The Ruto camp wants to do away with the with the team led by Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju, whom they criticise for being sympathetic to Raila and the opposition.

Prof Olang Sana, a political commentator from Maseno University, warns that having unleashed his supporters to attack Uhuru’s administration, there is no tact in the DP’s game.

The don says that although Ruto is not criticising Uhuru in person, and keeps telling his audience that he is with the President and Jubilee, what goes on in the field is different.

“He seems to be releasing his brigades who are a bit aggressive. If he wants to be president, which he is close to if things remain constant, he should play it cool and let Uhuru and Raila have their way.”

“If anything, wananchi are sceptical about Uhuru and Raila as well as the BBI. They are buying into the suspicion of William Ruto. If I were him, I would play stupid and let the duo run their show to the end,” Olang said.

But for analyst Manyora, the question will be on whether the DP is smart or not. “His allies are saying what he can’t openly say and to the extent that he is not saying it, you can’t hold him to account.”

“The other question is how long the show of courtesy and not being outwardly offensive or critical of Uhuru will last,” the University of Nairobi don said.

“At the Bomas, he may not have said anything but his body language spoke of defiance. If he is not careful, this will come out in words and that will be the end of him.”

As the BBI wave gathers steam into the New Year, political sides would follow. The question is, on which side will Ruto be?