By Professor Makau Mutua at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.What you need to know:
- Like a woman scorned, Mr Ruto has never forgiven Mr Kenyatta for getting away. He’s been consumed by hate.
- Nothing has been more dangerous than Mr Ruto’s public vow and commitment that he will prosecute Mr Kenyatta if he wins the August elections.
- Last week, Mr Ruto’s utter disdain for Mr Kenyatta was laid bare when he spoke disparagingly about him before a rogue gathering of Kikuyu elders.
- Everything – and I mean everything – has gone completely south between Deputy President William Ruto and his boss Uhuru Kenyatta.
- Prosecution
Even so, one would hope that there’s a shred of human decency left in Mr Ruto.
I am afraid the opposite is the case. Mr Ruto has abandoned everything that his parents and the Bible – which he clings to every day – taught him.
The man is so bitter that I am sure he wishes Mr Kenyatta the worst.
I’ve written before that Mr Ruto’s raw greed for power is ungoverned by morality or law. It’s naked.
That’s why he couldn’t help but announce that he will prosecute – and persecute – Mr Kenyatta if he triumphs in the elections.
There are two kinds of people who must never be entrusted with the power of the State.
Those who desperately crave it, and those who are absolutely disinterested in it.
The former will pursue a scorched-earth policy to retain power while the latter will let the State rot.
Mr Ruto is the textbook definition of the former. Mr Ruto fancied himself Mr Kenyatta’s Svengali until March 2018 when the President finally freed himself from the suffocating grip of his deputy.
Mr Ruto thought – it turned out mistakenly – that Mr Kenyatta was merely his marionette, a stepping stone to State House.
Like a woman scorned, Mr Ruto has never forgiven Mr Kenyatta for getting away. He’s been consumed by hate.
Mr Ruto blames his political divorce from Mr Kenyatta on Azimio la Umoja’s Raila Odinga. But Mr Ruto would be better advised to look in the mirror. Take a hard look in the mirror.
The reason is staring back at him. Had he been a loyal lieutenant – the way then Vice President Daniel arap Moi was to Mzee Jomo Kenyatta – his fortunes may have been different.
But unlike Mr Moi, Mr Ruto doesn’t see far like the giraffe. Even if you think you are smarter and better than your boss, it is foolish and unwise to be contemptuous of him.
If your goal is to succeed your boss, wherefore do you belittle him? What could be achieved by such a boneheaded strategy? Very befuddling.
Why challenge your boss to a duel, even in his political backyard? Why openly poke him in the eye?
This reminds me of the proverbial, sometimes actual, pissing contest among prepubescent boys. Who can pee the farthest? Who is well-endowed? It’s all for naught.
As a student of the State, I’ve watched with dismay as Mr Ruto has bared his chest and fangs against Mr Kenyatta.
It’s simply not how things are done, as my father reminded me every time I acted cocky.
The old man would politely ask me to return to my senses. Once, or twice, I didn’t and disaster – not kamuti (Akamba magic) – struck me down. Mr Ruto is suffering the same malign fate.
Nothing has been more dangerous than Mr Ruto’s public vow and commitment that he will prosecute Mr Kenyatta if he wins the August elections.
First of all, presidents don’t prosecute anyone. It’s the purview of law enforcement agencies and the courts to go after suspects.
That’s Constitutional and Criminal Law 101. It’s especially a no-no for a candidate for the presidency to even say that they will prosecute their predecessor.
Both the intended and unintended consequences of such a statement are incalculable.
Perhaps Mr Ruto isn’t a good student of history, especially the African variant. He should consult those of us whose job it is to know history.
We can save him, and the country from heartache.
I remember the burning desire to go after President Moi after he exited.
There’s no doubt he had many wrongs for which to answer. Some of us wanted him arrested and frog-marched to the gallows.
I wanted him jailed and the key thrown away. But cooler heads prevailed.
I am glad they did because a cost-benefit analysis of the potential cataclysm of such an action was unpredictable.
I think other less draconian ways of holding him to account could’ve been explored.
But this much is true – prosecuting him would’ve been seen as persecuting him.
It would’ve set our democracy back and made future presidents reluctant to transfer power. It could also have been a downward spiral to civil war.
Mr Ruto should perish the thought of going after Mr Kenyatta. The action could destroy Kenya.
For this reason alone, he must be resoundingly defeated on August 9.
Last week, Mr Ruto’s utter disdain for Mr Kenyatta was laid bare when he spoke disparagingly about him before a rogue gathering of Kikuyu elders.
Mr Ruto recounted how he “almost slapped” Mr Kenyatta because he didn’t want to contest the repeat 2017 elections.
My mouth was left agape by the gleeful rendition of the episode by Mr Ruto.
He intended to defrock Mr Kenyatta among the Agikuyu. This is gratuitous violence unbecoming of a presidential candidate.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. Twitter: @makaumutua
Source: Sunday Nation today
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