From left: Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on May 31, 2018.
By Makau MutuaProfessor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.In the last few weeks, DP William Ruto has been gasping for air. Unlike our Kalenjin compatriots, he can’t keep pace. His conscience must be eating at him. He knows deep down that he’s consuming tonnes of public resources as Deputy President without breaking a sweat. How he’s squatted in office for five years doing absolutely nothing for citizens, except run his mouth and plot how to take power in August, is a case study in political immorality. He would’ve been fired in any other job. But he’s clung to constitutional protections to fleece the taxpayer. The English word for Mr Ruto’s conduct is theft – taking something of value furtively, without permission, or justification.
But it’s his sense of entitlement that’s truly mind-boggling. Mr Ruto is a child of the system. He’s always been in power, or in the inner sanctum of the state. If he was a baby, and the state his mom, he would’ve failed to grow up. That’s because he’s always suckled at the breast of the state. That’s the reason he’s refused to resign as DP even though he’s in office without power. Instead, he’s chosen to sit there and plunder state resources because he can’t contemplate being independent. I often wonder what Mr Ruto would do if he was out of office, and out of power. I bet he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.
2018 Handshake
But it’s his sense of entitlement that’s truly mind-boggling. Mr Ruto is a child of the system. He’s always been in power, or in the inner sanctum of the state. If he was a baby, and the state his mom, he would’ve failed to grow up. That’s because he’s always suckled at the breast of the state. That’s the reason he’s refused to resign as DP even though he’s in office without power. Instead, he’s chosen to sit there and plunder state resources because he can’t contemplate being independent. I often wonder what Mr Ruto would do if he was out of office, and out of power. I bet he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.
2018 Handshake
One thing that rattled Mr Ruto more than any other was the 2018 Handshake between ODM’s Raila Odinga and Jubilee’s Uhuru Kenyatta. Mr Ruto has always been a deeply calculating strategist and political animal. In 2013, he believed he had secured his ticket to the presidency when he wangled his way on to the Jubilee ticket as Mr Kenyatta’s running mate. The man from Sugoi spent the next five years lassoing Mr Kenyatta and putting his boss in a suffocating political box. Mr Ruto filled public positions with his henchmen – it’s said sometimes right down to the watchmen. He put his acolytes in elective political offices at all levels. It’s alleged he rigged out Mr Kenyatta’s allies. He became co-President.
It’s not clear why Mr Kenyatta allowed his deputy to amass so much power. Now we know from Mr Kenyatta’s allies he never trusted Mr Ruto. In fact, no less a personality than Jubilee’s Jeremiah Kioni has publicly stated that the bromance between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto was all an act, to wit, fake. It was an unlikely co-existence. Matters boiled over after the 2017 elections when Mr Kenyatta couldn’t stomach Mr Ruto any longer. He publicly rebuked and politically divorced Mr Ruto. Matters would’ve ended there had Mr Ruto been a normal person. He would’ve resigned as DP and joined the opposition. But he hung on, to enjoy all the perks and protections of office.
Gema
At first – unsure of his next move as a stranger in his own government – Mr Ruto daily attacked Mr Odinga and the Handshake as a way of getting to Mr Kenyatta. I think he believed that going after Mr Kenyatta would alienate the Gema vote that he had assiduously courted. At some point, he seems to either believe that he had wrested Gema from Mr Kenyatta, or that he simply had lost control over his own emotions. He burst out in avalanches of attacks and epithets against Mr Kenyatta, often in the latter’s Mt Kenya backyard. It’s been a stunning display of arrogance, disrespect and disdain. To Mr Ruto, Mr Kenyatta is his number one personal and political enemy.
Mr Ruto has reserved his bitterest attacks not on Mr Odinga – his chief rival for State House – but on Mr Kenyatta. There are two main reasons for Mr Ruto’s choice of his primary enemy. But since Mr Ruto must have known, even in 2013, that there was no love lost between them, we must locate his discombobulation from some inner demons. He’s tormented by gremlins he can’t shake off. It’s like an untreatable jigger infestation. First, Mr Ruto can’t believe that Mr Kenyatta wiggled out – escaped – from his well-orchestrated headlock. He couldn’t believe Mr Kenyatta outwitted him. Second, Mr Ruto discovered that he wasn’t the smartest – or wiliest – person in the room. He can’t believe he isn’t a political genius.
Mr Ruto built an imaginary impregnable castle. But Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta have wrecked it. This is Mr Ruto’s greatest blunder. He’s continued to define Mr Kenyatta as his primary enemy. He’s done so for two reasons. First, he’s afraid of facing Mr Odinga – his political maestro – because he feels inadequate and can’t measure up. Second, like a petulant child, he can’t get over the fact that Mr Kenyatta will not come around. Down this path lies Mr Ruto’s political ruin. He’s self-cannibalising. If I were him, I would leave Mr Kenyatta alone and face Mr. Odinga mano-a-mano. But he fears Mr Odinga will eat his lunch.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School. He’s chair of KHRC. @makaumutua.
It’s not clear why Mr Kenyatta allowed his deputy to amass so much power. Now we know from Mr Kenyatta’s allies he never trusted Mr Ruto. In fact, no less a personality than Jubilee’s Jeremiah Kioni has publicly stated that the bromance between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto was all an act, to wit, fake. It was an unlikely co-existence. Matters boiled over after the 2017 elections when Mr Kenyatta couldn’t stomach Mr Ruto any longer. He publicly rebuked and politically divorced Mr Ruto. Matters would’ve ended there had Mr Ruto been a normal person. He would’ve resigned as DP and joined the opposition. But he hung on, to enjoy all the perks and protections of office.
Gema
At first – unsure of his next move as a stranger in his own government – Mr Ruto daily attacked Mr Odinga and the Handshake as a way of getting to Mr Kenyatta. I think he believed that going after Mr Kenyatta would alienate the Gema vote that he had assiduously courted. At some point, he seems to either believe that he had wrested Gema from Mr Kenyatta, or that he simply had lost control over his own emotions. He burst out in avalanches of attacks and epithets against Mr Kenyatta, often in the latter’s Mt Kenya backyard. It’s been a stunning display of arrogance, disrespect and disdain. To Mr Ruto, Mr Kenyatta is his number one personal and political enemy.
Mr Ruto has reserved his bitterest attacks not on Mr Odinga – his chief rival for State House – but on Mr Kenyatta. There are two main reasons for Mr Ruto’s choice of his primary enemy. But since Mr Ruto must have known, even in 2013, that there was no love lost between them, we must locate his discombobulation from some inner demons. He’s tormented by gremlins he can’t shake off. It’s like an untreatable jigger infestation. First, Mr Ruto can’t believe that Mr Kenyatta wiggled out – escaped – from his well-orchestrated headlock. He couldn’t believe Mr Kenyatta outwitted him. Second, Mr Ruto discovered that he wasn’t the smartest – or wiliest – person in the room. He can’t believe he isn’t a political genius.
Mr Ruto built an imaginary impregnable castle. But Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta have wrecked it. This is Mr Ruto’s greatest blunder. He’s continued to define Mr Kenyatta as his primary enemy. He’s done so for two reasons. First, he’s afraid of facing Mr Odinga – his political maestro – because he feels inadequate and can’t measure up. Second, like a petulant child, he can’t get over the fact that Mr Kenyatta will not come around. Down this path lies Mr Ruto’s political ruin. He’s self-cannibalising. If I were him, I would leave Mr Kenyatta alone and face Mr. Odinga mano-a-mano. But he fears Mr Odinga will eat his lunch.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School. He’s chair of KHRC. @makaumutua.
Source: Sunday Nation today.
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