- Ruto is not a party leader or a parliamentary leader
- This obsession the Deputy President has with leading Kenya in 2022 should be put on hold
If Deputy President William Ruto believes that he controls 70 per cent of elected Jubilee legislators both in the Senate and the National Assembly, he should know that he is hallucinating. That figure is an estimate that the Deputy President just wants to believe that it reflects his support in Parliament but in reality, it is far away from the truth.
First of all, the Deputy President does not have the platform to control legislators either at the Senate or the National Assembly. Ruto is not a party leader or a parliamentary leader. We know who the party leader of the ruling Jubilee is. We also know who the leaders of the other parties represented in Parliament are. We also know who the majority leaders and minority leaders in Parliament are. Ruto is none of them. So to say that he controls that percentage of MPs in Parliament basing it on the number of MPs who have protested against changes in Jubilee officials would be misleading.
The Deputy President should also remember that at the moment, all national leaders are trying to figure out how to help Kenyans fight for their lives and well-being. Nobody is interested in engaging in politics at this time. The head of the World Health Organisation has even said that leaders must wake up to the coronavirus pandemic. Kenya, like many other countries in Africa has vulnerable communities. Natiaonal leaders should, therefore, be working around the clock, putting together whatever resources they can get their hands on to prevent further spread of the disease.
Whatever influence Ruto has, he should use it to help Kenyans and Kenya. He should play a critical role in helping the country through the Covid-19 pandemic. This obsession the Deputy President has with leading Kenya in 2022 should be put on hold because there are currently more pressing issues that leaders need to look into.
All his energies should be directed to the fight against the pandemic and not the 2022 succession politics. Ruto should do whatever he can to ensure that there is a Kenya and Kenyans to lead come 2022.
Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu spoke to the Star