Deputy President William Ruto has time and again threatened to punish those he deems rebels in Rift Valley. Following the victory of Jubilee, the DP has been coming out triumphantly and talking tough against those who opposed him, specifically the Bomet governor, Isaac Ruto, and Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter among others.
Little does Ruto know that his proclaimed ‘enemies’ are just mere mouthpieces of the thousands who cannot face him directly and are, as such, the friends of the people. The rebels are gaining numbers each passing day.
The ironical bit is that the DP considers the move as appropriate in protecting the Kalenjin vote and his political career from the ‘myopic’ and ‘jealous’ rebels. The reaction is reminiscent of a case of an ancient king overrunning an adversary city, burning it to ashes and his army having their way with the city women.
Unknown to him is that Kericho was just a tip of the iceberg in terms of what the future holds for him. Almost all Kenyans would take any opportunity to demand accountability from their leaders. In a country torn by tribalism, the people of Kericho exhibited a true democratic spirit in demanding that the DP and the government base their political campaigns on tangible developments and keeping their promises.
In the typical political attitude, the DP once again missed the message of the people of Kericho and this blunder may soon come back to haunt Jubilee either in 2017 or 2022 when Ruto plans to take over the house on the hill.
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It is quite obvious that despite that the people of Kenya being impelled by the leaders to perceive national politics through a tribal prism; they are in a dire need of value development, good governance and accountability at all government levels. Therefore, punishing political critics and the so-called rebels of the Rift-valley will not add any value to the DP’s declining political mileage in the region and in the country as well.
Going around the country selling the new political outfit that has the same old ideologies and branding those who call for accountability rebels and swearing on national TV to punish them will not help Jubilee in any way. 2017 is fast approaching and the tribal politicians are slowly losing their mark.
