By John Omondi,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Dec 18, 2021 — DP Ruto’s meteoric rise to the apex of Kenyan leadership is nothing short of a miracle given that he comes from a family not prominent as is always the case with the country’s top brass. The son of Sugoi in Kenya’s Rift Valley province has achieved unimaginable feats in his nearly two decades of political life but his onward march to State House seems to be facing headwinds with the current President Kenyatta giving mixed signals when it comes to the question of him backing his Deputy for the top seat.
Ruto was the ruling party Jubilee’s blue eyed boy. suave, articulate, endowed with the gift of the garb and a way with the crowds, had it all going for him and the presidency was his for the taking. He was sure of inheriting President Uhuru Kenyatta’s backyard, the Central Kenya voting block and therefore had an advantage of heading to the forthcoming polls in 2022 as the heir apparent and controlling the country’s two vote rich regions in addition to the ruling party with access to state machinery that would have given him a an advantage over the others. Then all of a sudden the President coming from a hard fought 2017 election duel between him and the opposition supremo Raila Odinga, opted for a working formula with his political adversary and called for unity in a nation that was torn in the middle by the divisive polls and the resultant boycott from the opposition zones which denied him legitimacy at least from the courts of the public opinion.
The famous “handshake” between the President and Mr Odinga ensured that the country returned to normalcy and the two leaders embarked on a mission to unite the country and at the same time the President who is interested to leave a legacy worth mentioning, engaged in popularizing his big four development agenda for the country: his pet project that by the look of things will go a long way in defining his administration. These turn of events jolted the DP’s hitherto unfettered access to the President and levers of power as Hon Kenyatta, keen to nature the new found working relationship with the opposition consequently bypassed his restive deputy; a man he had promised to back for the seat once he leaves power.
With Odinga firmly tucked in his conner, the President who is bubbling with confidence and enjoying support from unlikely quarters, shows no signs of interest in backing his Deputy and his body language and verbal outbursts in public affirms the belief that he has betrayed Hon Ruto. His continued purge on Ruto’s men in government and public positions have clearly indicated that he means no well for the DP and is busy cutting him to size and would likely use every opportunity to get rid of him. The DPs men have claimed as much but the President’s supporters insist that the DP brought it to himself by engaging in early campaigns to succeed his boss against the ruling party’s wishes as this was seen to be putting the President’s development agenda in jeopardy and the country in an election mood at a time when Kenya was grappling with debts, lack of jobs for the youth, rampant corruption and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DP on his part refutes this claims and defiantly continues to campaign across the country terming the allegations from his party as distraction by those opposed to his presidential bid. The recent pronouncements by the President insinuating that he will support one of the opposition NASA’s principal’s for the top seat added insult to the DP’s injury that made him lament in his social media accounts about the betrayal of him and their supporters who resiliently voted for them twice back in 2017 following a Supreme Court ruling that nullified their first win at that time. What the DP will take as his next course of action remains to be seen but political analysts point to the recently registered UDA party as his option and that he would likely use the party as his vehicle of choice come next year as Kenyans head to the polls.
The author, John Omondi, can be reached for more information through emails at ocampojoni347@gmail.com
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