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Omwenga: Ruto lost his moment of redemption in Eldoret

He extended his appreciation to Linturi right after the senator finished his speech

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by The Star

Coast12 January 2022 - 18:01
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In Summary


• Ruto and his lieutenants have apologised on behalf of Linturi and this may have to be sorted out in court.

• However, it is important to understand why this happened on the political side.

Deputy President William Ruto acknowledges greetings from Eldoret residents on January 8, 2022

It would be naïve to think what happened with Senator Mithika Linturi taking a hammer and slamming several nails to Deputy President William Ruto’s campaign coffin was an accident. It was not.

Why did the senator utter those reckless words?

There are three possible explanations and only one has more credence. First, one can give Linturi the benefit of doubt and buy his apology. Those of us who know Linturi personally would have been the first ones to defend him, saying he could not have meant what nearly everyone believes he meant.

However, given he has withdrawn his apology and stands by what he said with his lawyer arguing it was benevolent, we are left on our devices to answer the question why the senator uttered those reckless words.

Ruto and his lieutenants have apologised on behalf of Linturi and this may have to be sorted out in court. However, it is important to understand why this happened on the political side.

There are those claiming Linturi is a mole who was dispatched by the system to torch Ruto’s campaign. While anything is possible in politics, and while this could be an alternative explanation of what happened, it is in the end just a figment of someone’s imagination.

For one, those who know Linturi will recognize that the man is not what moles are made of. For another, the claim is undercut by what happened right when Linturi uttered those words that have now come back to haunt him besides throwing Ruto’s campaign off track.

For example, Oscar Sudi, who was the MC at the function was standing right behind Linturi as he uttered those words and appears to be nodding in affirmation going by the video clip of the event. Never mind many could dismiss Sudi as insignificant in the larger scheme of things but it is what Ruto did that may be more fatalistic to his campaign beyond those terrible words.

Ruto extended his appreciation to Linturi right after the senator finished his speech as if everything he said was exactly what needed to be said. In other words, going by that gesture, Ruto saw or heard nothing Linturi in the remarks that would have prompted him to take the mike and set the record straight.

Worse, Ruto did not immediately apologise once the remarks hit the media and received widespread condemnation. That reluctance or inability to respond quickly and forcefully tells us either Ruto was okay with those reckless remarks, or he is incapable to tell when his pants are on fire.

Neither of those is what you expect from a leader and on that count, Ruto now finds himself having forfeited much of what he has methodically spent years building. Had Ruto grabbed the mike and told Linturi off on the spot, he would have endeared himself to those outside his backyard who may be unsure about what he stands for.

He did not and the opportunity was lost.

We need and must have leaders who when leadership is most needed, they rise up to the occasion and offer the leadership. Ruto failed to provide the needed leadership when Linturi uttered the [alleged] hateful and divisive words.

It does not matter whether Linturi uttering those words was at the behest of the system, his own making and even at UDA’s encouragement. All that is irrelevant to the question of whether Ruto provided the leadership that was required at the moment, and he did not.

Had he the leadership chops necessary for a leader we must have come August 2022, Ruto would have taken the mike and assured non-Kalenjins living in the region not to worry and to vote for whoever they wish as that is the country we must have.

Instead, Ruto let the remarks go unchallenged until it was too little, too late.

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