A hard-hitting editorial by K24, a TV station associated with the Kenyatta family, has triggered a storm in Deputy President William Ruto's camp.
Ruto's allies now claim that the editorial read out by TV host Anne Kiguta last Sunday night was scripted by the DP's political detractors keen on blocking his march to State House.
Singled out for attack is political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi, who is believed to be working as a political adviser to top Jubilee Party officials.
Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Shollei, who appeared on the station's Punchline programme the same day, termed the show choreographed.
She said Ngunyi and Kiguta tricked her into attending the show, knowing very well that they had a sinister motive to further a negative agenda against Ruto.
There is no path to leadership that includes fighting your boss publicly and undermining him. And this is not about whether the boss is right or wrong or anything like that. It's about the fact that the boss is the boss
"On Friday, April 17, I came across a number I did not recognise, shortly after this was followed by a text from Prof Mutahi Ngunyi who introduced himself and requested me to appear on Punchline... I agreed to honour the invitation," Shollei stated.
"But it has since become clear that this was a ploy to anchor a desperate, contradictory, misinformed and ill-advised message crafted by Ngunyi at the behest of his masters with Anne Kiguta providing a voice."
The editorial concluded that the restless DP, who is sabotaging his boss, will not be President.
"There is no path to leadership that includes fighting your boss publicly and undermining him. And this is not about whether the boss is right or wrong or anything like that. It's about the fact that the boss is the boss," Kiguta said in the nine-minute lecture.
Ngunyi, who in 2013 used the tyranny of numbers hypothesis to explain why Cord – led by Raila Odinga – lost that year's presidential contest to Uhuru Kenyatta, has lately been dismissive of the DP's State House chances. He points to the vicious fallout in the ruling party.
Asked by the Star if he was the author of the editorial, Ngunyi responded, "What if I was?"
DP Ruto called me on Tuesday. And I told him that I invited Tabitha Shollei to the K24 show. You should have just asked him instead of speculating. I also asked if I can invite Murkomen for this Sunday. Can you organise please! Not responding!
On his Twitter handle Ngunyi admitted he invited Shollei to the show but made no reference to the editorial.
"DP Ruto called me on Tuesday. And I told him that I invited Tabitha Shollei to the K24 show. You should have just asked him instead of speculating. I also asked if I can invite Murkomen for this Sunday. Can you organise please! Not responding!" he told off digital strategist Dennis Itumbi.
On Friday, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi said the DP's political detractors have now resorted to using their “media mouthpieces" to perpetuate hatred and vengeance against Ruto.
“We know that they have failed miserably in their agenda against the Deputy President. Kenyans know very well the kind of president they want to elect in 2022. Kenyans are no fools,” he said.
The MP said Ruto will remain focused with humility, as he knows all too well that it is only God who anoints leaders.
"Let them continue with their propaganda. But we want to tell them that Kenyans are keenly watching and would prove them wrong at the ballot,” Sudi added.
The K24 editorial appeared to suggest that the DP has failed to accept the reality that his relationship with Uhuru was beyond salvation.
Belgut MP Nelson Koech said the well-calculated campaign against the DP will not force Ruto to react.
“Our Jubilee deputy party leader and Deputy President, William Ruto, is focused on bringing Kenyans together and will not respond to people trying to provoke him in a certain way,” he said.
The DP's allies believe Ngunyi is being used by Ruto's detractors to do a mass campaign against his 2022 presidential ambitions.
Our Jubilee deputy party leader and Deputy President, William Ruto, is focused on bringing Kenyans together and will not respond to people trying to provoke him in a certain way
Ngunyi has been critical of the DP's State House bid and has maintained that the former Eldoret North MP has no chances of beating ODM leader Raila in 2022.
Appearing on K24's Punchline in March, Ngunyi said the Building Bridges Initiative will usher in a new political dispensation that will have Raila as a ceremonial president with Uhuru as executive prime minister.
“Raila’s endgame is State House. It doesn’t matter how he arrives there, whether as an executive president or a ceremonial one. My view is that Raila will arrive at State House as a ceremonial president. His job will be to kiss babies, do the guard of honour and other stuff,” Ngunyi said on March 20.
Ngunyi said BBI was created to avoid a runoff between Ruto and Raila in 2022.
“For sure, Raila will run against Ruto in 2022 and there will be a runoff. If Raila and Ruto go into the 2022 election, there will be a runoff. To avoid a runoff in 2022, BBI II will give us a prime minister,” he stated.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya
