Shortly after starring in the Youth For Kanu 1992, William Ruto set his eyes on the grand stage of Kenya’s politics.
By this time next year, it will be three decades since Ruto and his YK92 Kanu quasi-militia triumphed over the disjointed Ford.
It will be interesting, though, to see whether he shall have achieved being at the very top office in the land, for it will be days after the elections. Hate him or love him, DP Ruto has never taken his eyes off the antelope for a dashing squirrel.
From downing Reuben Chesire in Eldoret North in the 1997 elections to sitting in the President Daniel Moi Cabinet alongside stalwarts such as William ole Ntimama and Prof George Saitoti to becoming a formidable shadow Agriculture minister in the Uhuru Kenyatta-led Kanu opposition after 2002, he has kept rising.
After the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution and the “Let’s not be vague, let’s go Hague” chorus in which he was the chief soloist, Ruto was already showing Raila Odinga, then his immediate boss, the middle finger, literally speaking.
Interestingly, he had the backing of all the 'deep state', 'system', and dynasties, all of which he is now shuttling around the country, baptising as the daredevils that have devoured our country.
Ruto then could initiate trouble in his Agriculture ministry, get fired by his immediate supervisor but run to ‘the boss’ and be reinstated, leaving PM Raila Odinga with egg on his face. He looked like a fool in a government-christened power-sharing arrangement.
Ruto had no qualms about the protection and the latitude one gets from the 'deep state' and 'the system'. His union with Uhuru for 2013 elections — and it is open knowledge — was informed more by the duo's common insecurities than by any leadership or governance ideologies they shared.
Still, this marriage had the full blessings of now the two most fundamental nemeses of the Deputy President – the 'deep state' and 'the system'.
Having been a beneficiary of these two, it now becomes spit on our face that he castigates not only their existence but also what they are capable of doing. It is even noteworthy, stating the vocabulary first came into existence through him.
So why would Ruto part ways with what made him the Deputy President in the first place? The problem must be the person himself. Upon being sworn in in 2013, without even nudging his boss, he assumed both the 'deep state' and 'the system' himself.
In fact, the DP began campaigning for the 2022 presidency immediately Uhuru was sworn in as President in 2013. His half of the government was hugely filled by people from his own backyard. Trouble rocked the very dockets filled by his own ‘system’, including the Arror and Kimwarer dams.
Immediately after the annulled election of 2017 and the subsequent repeat boycotted by the opposition, the DP was one of the cheerleaders of the government’s highhandedness, impunity, wanton disregard of court orders and any semblance of the rule of law.
Why would he be feeling aggrieved now that the same government is still doing the very things he used to cheer her on? It must only be for one reason — isolation. He has been isolated by the very 'system' and 'deep state that helped him work his was up to the second most powerful office.
The public humiliation early August at Wilson Airport, in which he was blocked from travelling to Uganda, and the reported down grade of his security detail point to a man who has not only lost the confidence of his boss, but also the trappings of power that come with his office.
One would ask, what urgent business did the DP have in Uganda? A country ruled by a dictator who has ruled for close to four decades and has been accused of raining terror not only on his political opponents but also the general population.
The DP has been isolated by his own boss after it became clear that his unwavering focus on the presidency immediately they got elected was proving burdensome in the grand scheme of things.
His excuse was that the handshake holds no water. He was not part of the scheme even before the famous handshake on the steps of Harambee House. That is why, like the rest of Kenyans, he too was surprised and watched on TV as the two leaders resorted to burying the hatchet for the sake of unity and development of the nation. [On October 26, President Kenyatta said he kept Ruto "abreast of what was going on he was part and parcel of it all"]
It is unfortunate the once-powerful man enjoying the trappings of power from 'the deep state' and 'the system', has been virtually thrown of the government and the ruling party, the Jubilee Party he helped found.
He has been reduced to press conferences, TV talk shows and occasional rants on Twitter. The DP projects the image of a man betrayed by his ambitions to succeed his boss, even before a vacancy is declared by the IEBC. He only has the backing of his Kalenjin backyard MPs and a few rebel Jubilee MPs. Can anyone explain to me how he expects to win the presidency with these meagre numbers?
It is high time the DP concentrated on his agenda and philosophies of bottom-up, hustler ation and the like without using amorphously non-existent institutions like 'the system' and the 'deep state'.
In so doing, the DP is telling us it is wrong being supported by the President when you are running for the high office, that it is an offence being a civil servant with an interest in the political arena, that it is wrong supporting Uhuru Kenyatta and more untoward supporting Raila Odinga.
The DP is blackmailing Kenyans and caging them so we can see him as the only saviour. Talking of salvation, who really enslaved us in the first place?
In my humble opinion, the DP should borrow a leaf from Jaramogi Odinga and resign from the government to save himself from further humiliation and embarrassment. Power is indeed fickle and transient.
Amin is a university lecturer
(Edited by V. Graham)
