Raila-Ruto feud fueling fresh political wars

Raila Odinga in crisis is like a fish in water. He swiftly glides through torrents and turns political misfortune into gold. But William Ruto is the complete opposite. In times of crisis he is like an impala that has heard rumours of a pride of predators nearby. I say this for two reasons.

The first is that, when faced with political crisis Ruto is like William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. His wife, Lady Macbeth, described his face as “an open book, where men may read strange matters.” When under political siege as he has been for the past one year, the Deputy President’s face has been an open book. The distress, discomfort and awkwardness is obvious from his demeanour. The problem with this is that when your enemies watch you squirming, it emboldens them. In political wars, detaching oneself from the chaos of the battlefield is crucial. Since, March 9 last year, Raila has had a field day on Ruto’s account. And he is not the only one. In newspapers, political caricatures of Ruto are drawn with permanent tears streaming down his face to date. This is from a one-time display of emotion back in 2013. 

The second is that during political crisis, Ruto’s ‘achilles heel’ haunts him. The Deputy President has acquired a ‘public pick pocket persona,’ which has proved hard to shake off. In a country filled with corrupt people, he has been labeled the most ‘chronically corrupt,’ the ‘king of the kleptomaniacs.’ Whatever political crisis besieges him therefore, is further compounded by the need to fight a reputation that threatens to be politically crippling. But on the other side of this argument, while Ruto is weak in crisis, he thrives in political competition, much unlike his nemesis, Raila who struggles when in contest. Again I say this for two reasons.

The first is that, in political competition, Ruto has gained ‘urban legend’ status. Like the late Nicholas Biwott, he is regarded as a mythical political creature whose astuteness is both feared and admired. It is like the concept of Chinese Whispers where a distorted message is repeated over and over until it seems ‘true’. And these distortions are to his advantage: “he is invincible, he is politically dangerous.” A recent newspaper headline even ran a declaration that he is a ‘dragon’. What is more mythical than that?

Ruto’s urban legend status is informed by three things. One: His own political history. Ruto rose through Kanu ranks and won Kalenjin hearts. Two: His ‘invisible political hand’. In the 2017 elections, Ruto is said to have contributed to some seminal shifts, from constituencies in Central to counties in the Rift Valley, his most victorious being Bomet. And three: His verbal and mobilisation prowess. Give Ruto a microphone and a crowd, he delivers political gold.

Finally, Ruto thrives in competition because he has the patience of Job. Because of this, he loses battles but wins wars. As he suffers political humiliation in the face of an Uhuru/Raila ‘dalliance,’ and is under siege for corruption; he publicly squirms but focuses on the long game behind the scenes. More recently, his ‘political urban legend’ status has been heightened once again in the Ugenya, Embakasi and Wajir by-elections. In Wajir, he has added salt to injury by flaunting a defection in Raila’s face. The message here is that he has ‘Strategy for the Warzone’, which is the General Election, not merely ‘Tactics for the Battlefield’ in the politics of ‘here and now.’

So, how will Ruto reconcile his many contradictions? If he is weak in crisis, but thrives in political competition, he is seen as national maverick but at the same time he is seen as a public menace, which William Ruto will carry the day?

- The writer is a PhD candidate in political economy at SMC University. maritim.dc@gmail.com