DP Ruto: Big office, No power

At the prime of their relationship, Deputy President William Ruto was at the beck and call of his boss and party leader, President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In those happy times, they would consult on the nitty-gritty of government operations, from appointments and programmes to party affairs. The two rhymed in thought, speech and dress.

But two years after re-election, the relationship has hit rock bottom, catalysed by a ‘Handshake’ he was never consulted on, affirmed by Covid-19 pandemic management he has been sidelined from and now buried by controversial Jubilee Party changes he had no clue about.

From a bullish executive Deputy President to a renegade blogger within the government, Ruto’s fall from the centre of power has been slow but dramatic.

Kicked out

And in an almost slow motion mode, his allies have seen their main man slowly but surely slide down the political gutter in what is turning out to be a noisy, messy and painful divorce from the centre of power. Ruto, the Deputy President, has the office but no power!

Riding on the official denials and inability of his boss to come out in full force, Ruto hangs on to hope, and prayer, to little avail.

His allies kicked out of the crucial dockets, Ruto found himself with no one to feed him with information let alone discuss with him. Felix Kosgei, Kazungu Kambi, Davis Chirchir, Rashid Echesa, Mwangi Kiunjuri were all dumped to the political dustbin of have-beens, over a period of time.

Incrementally, all interactive and crucial dockets -- interior, ICT, health, agriculture, foreign affairs, education and youth were all taken up by men and women of undivided loyalty to Kenyatta.

Starved of influence, he took to scavenging information from pockets of allegiance, including mid-level bureaucrats who shared in his hustler philosophy. Government agencies however tightened grip on information-sharing and went for the necks of his sympathisers.

Pushed to the corner, he took charge of his own communication through the social media platform, Twitter. It is here that Ruto would vent his frustrations, pronounce himself on matters, become a whistle-blower against his own government and out his political foes.

“The DCI has been mobilised for political reasons to discredit and destroy my office with all manner of NONSENSE and to bring me down. Those in this scheme are boasting that I will not be there soon. Since the system cannot elect anybody, they can only kill. But there is GOD in heaven,” he Tweeted on the Kenei murder. 

It is also on Twitter that he kicked off the current political storm that has engulfed him: “As Kenyans are focused on the Covid-19 pandemic, some shadowy characters are attempting to FRAUDULENTLY institute ILLEGAL changes in officials of Jubilee party. As deputy party leader, I have alerted the registrar of the fraud. Party members should know that the matter is being handled.”

Towards the end of last year, it became clear that he was playing catch-up to the same government he helped form. As the ‘Handshake’ politics peaked, Ruto found himself caught between a rock and a hard place.

What made it worse for him, however, was that he had to act in support of the very thing that was conceived to end him -- undercutting his political influence not only within the government but also in the party that he spent endless nights sewing.

At the Bomas launch of the BBI report, Ruto looked like a rained-on chicken. While his boss and ODM leader Raila Odinga flashed big smiles and shared hearty laughs, he looked forlorn.

In initial days, he fumbled between support and subtle opposition. In the end, the fence-sitting worked against him, with the government’s might brought to bear on his lieutenants, and the President’s men coming out in clearer terms that he was unwanted.

Planning and meetings

In the aftermath of the killing of his ex-security man Kipyegon Kenei, it was clear to all and sundry that Ruto’s days at the centre were all but numbered. The speech he gave at the funeral of Kenei did not help at all. Instead, it sealed his place as a renegade and an oppositionist in government.

Kenei, the head of security at the DP’s office at the Harambee House Annex, was found dead on February 20, just as he prepared to record a statement at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations on a fake Sh40 billion arms deal.

By stroke of celestial grace and chance, Covid-19 slammed the brakes on heightened political activity in Kenya. Reggae stopped and the lasso that was being tightened on the DP loosened.

But even then, the DP missed out in the initial government planning and meetings on the pandemic. For a moment, it seemed like Kenya’s second-in-command had gone into self-isolation even before a national directive on the same was issued.

DP Ruto, a self-styled man of the people, the self-anointed representative of the hustler nation, was missing in action. When his foot-soldiers attempted to place him at the centre of planning against Covid-19, they were booted from the government altogether.

Dennis Itumbi, the avid blogger and chief online warrior he had succored at Harambee House Annex, finally met his Waterloo. It could not get clearer than this that he was unwanted. And by extension, his fall from grace would take with it some casualties. Itumbi was collateral damage.

One of the lingering grievances from Mount Kenya leaders has been the conduct of the 2017 Jubilee nomination in the run-up to that year’s general election. While the winners stuck with Ruto, the losers claimed he rigged them out and saw his hand in every vote that went against them.

When Uhuru started rehabilitating the losers within the government with appointments, Ruto’s acolyte’s tightened grip against him. The “losers” in turn fully embraced the President and hated the DP and his politics, providing a perfect recipe for the chaos that are currently rocking the ruling party.

The rise of Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on the national stage has elbowed the DP from the picture. Closing ranks with other political CSs who have little time for the DP, Kagwe has gone about his thing as though Kenya has no DP.

Essentially, the DP has been relegated to the couch like the rest of the country, glued to his TV for the daily updates or occasional State House address, from which he then tweets. A strong rumour in government is that the CSs ignore his calls.

Fighting the changes

“GoK working on health professional’s package recognising their sacrifice at the front line of the fight against Covid-19. Over Sh13b released to cater for vulnerable citizens programme and counties. An economic plan is being put together to deal with post corona, Pres. Uhuru announces,” he tweeted yesterday.

When Ruto finally addressed the current pandemic, he cobbled up an address that increasingly looked like an abridged version of Kagwe’s briefings and the handful of speeches the President had made with every passing sentence.

Without doubt, the current mess at the Registrar of Political Parties with regard to the Jubilee Party state of Affairs may be another step towards sealing his fate within Jubilee Party. Given the ferocity with which he and his allies are fighting the changes proposed by a section of the ruling party, it is unimaginable that he would let go the fight.

The Jubilee edifice, built over the years, is good for Uhuru Kenyatta post-presidency. His allies will now control and run the party through the succession period, and slow-puncture it in his interest. More importantly, they will now be in charge of the official party business, including meetings and funding.

On the other side, Ruto needs the Jubilee party identity and brand to weather the succession politics. If he bolts with a different party, he will be sold out as a betrayer who abandoned the cause.

Politically cunning

Also, given his background and the forces against him, he needs a big brand to counter Uhuru’s wing. This would explain why he is baring his all in this fight.

“The President and Party Leader of Jubilee Party did not and cannot be party to any fraudulent and illegal changes to officials of our party. This is the work of political rejects, conmen and fraudsters (whose) party allegiance is already elsewhere,” the DP tweeted in the wake of the alleged changes to the party leadership.

In return, his own party Vice Chairperson David Murathe pulled no punches in responding.

“The Secretary General is not a mad man to write a letter to the Registrar of Political Parties without reference to his boss. What the DP is panicking about is not the leadership of the party but his 2022 presidential ambition,” Murathe said.

The other option, DP allies say, is to take active part in slow-puncturing of Jubilee while at the same time building an alternate party to fall back on. This could prove politically dangerous given that Jubilee is the same party running government.

His allies say they will hang on and fight for their space but this is hardly believable. For now, nothing seems to be slowing down his fall.

Whatever he clutches on seems to be turning into frost and slipping through his fingers.

Only a parachute can halt his tumbling. And the DP, a politically cunning individual, is not known to jump off planes in the absence of a safety net.