Could DP Ruto be driving himself into political Siberia?

By SELINA CHITERI

 Deputy President William Ruto is not only in a tight political corner; he is staring at political ruin.

Slowly by slowly, his foundations are being shaken. And going by the recent political happenings, Ruto seems to have woken up from his political stupor after President Uhuru Kenyatta appeared to prefer a NASA candidate as far as the 2022 presidential race is concerned.

Already, word has it that the ruling Jubilee Party and the Orange Democratic Movement are in the process of forming a coalition towards the quest for presidency. This will not be surprising, and it is what Ruto should have expected given his open defiance and insubordination against his boss.

The DP has spent the last four years building a network to outwit and usurp the roles of the President. He has openly defied repeated warnings by the head of state to stop premature campaigns.

But despite his unrelenting efforts in working against his own government, Ruto has somehow been deluded into imagining that Kenyatta would still declare and support him as a worthy successor.

But reality that this won’t happen and that he will be ruthlessly deconstructed piece by piece is now sinking in. He has all of a sudden turned aggressive and even openly associated himself with UDA.

Every time Ruto has had a political beating, he has always retreated back to his ethnic cocoon to seek political massage.

For him, seeing the crowds jostle for his attention is a tactic he uses to camouflage a political downfall as he plans on his next move. This is the reason why he over the weekend retreated to West Pokot to rant over his boss’ choice on the presidency as he claimed that he has been denied a 2022 political vehicle. But is this true?

If it is Jubilee Party that Ruto was referring to, isn’t he the man who steered clear of the party and declared that it is on its death bed?

Ruto had openly disapproved Jubilee and supported candidates affiliated to other parties. His allies had equally moved ahead to divorce themselves from Jubilee Party after it was clear that they had failed to force their way in gaining ultimate control of the party.

They spoke ill of Kenyatta as Ruto watched on the sidelines and played the victim of who knows what.

His allies have opposed the Handshake, which brought relative peace in the country and handed the economy a lifeline in 2018.

To them, quelling the political tension that ensued after the 2017 General election went against their political interest. They wanted to exploit instability and divisions in the country to push Ruto’s quest for presidency.

Ruto and his allies have constantly been on a campaign trail since 2017, completely unfazed by the possibility of stirring more tension springing out of the volatile situation the country was in. His focus was solely on the presidency, not the country’s welfare or peace. He was focused on winning over the various voting blocs while taking advantage of the political turmoil in the country.

Before the Handshake and ultimate fallout, Ruto had since 2013 taken advantage of the trust bestowed upon him by Kenyatta. He had made himself the pedestal of power and influence, and was controlling the ruling party.

He had the final say on appointments at all levels in the hierarchy of leaders and was also involved in ‘development’ tours.

Additionally, he left tongues wagging over the millions of shillings he was dishing out to churches and school fundraisers to the extent that his political nemesis, the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, once referred to him as ‘the high priest of corruption’. This source of his funds was unknown and there were questions as to how he had managed to massive wealth in no time despite not being a bearer of any generational wealth.

But to his shock, despite working overtime to seize power in every sector of the economy, Ruto’s conniving moves were forestalled first through the Handshake and then purges that saw his key lieutenants shown the door through corruption crackdowns, reshuffles and purges in the ruling party through the Senate and the National Assembly.

This was the result of the DP taking advantage of the trust that had been bestowed to him by the President.

Now, Ruto has moved ahead to declare his full allegiance to UDA, stating that it is his party of choice in the run-up to 2022.

Ironically, the DP was still anticipating for an unforeseeable miracle to be declared as Kenyatta’s successor but blinded by his ego.

He has failed to see that he is on a losing streak, with his numbers dwindling with every political move taken by his rivals.

Ruto dug his own political grave and is now burying himself into oblivion and again failing to live up to the reality of his past and present choices.

Ms Chiteri is a communications consultant and graduate student in corporate communication. [email protected]