President's local and international visits and the tough times ahead

A frustrated Kenyan reaction to the high cost of living that has hit many households.[Getty Images]

Kenyans have been treated to strange happenings as politicians threaten the sense of national harmony. They looked satisfied that they had shown critics how tough they are. Their perceived self-satisfaction has, however, backfired and made them appear ridiculous.

It backfired because they appeared to be proudly inciting ethnic hostility as part of a political power play. The tragedy has been that leading personalities have seemed to enjoy the incitement, putting a big blot on President William Ruto’s image.

Ruto has serious image problems that he does not know how to handle. After successfully hosting Frenchman Emanuel Macron in the Africa Forward Summit that briefly attracted over 30 African heads of state and government, he spoiled his image in two ways. First, his government hiked fuel prices, and he zoomed off to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan using an expensive private jet from an Arab country.

It enabled him to travel in luxury that cost millions of shillings while Kenyans were crying over the exorbitant cost of living. Matatu and other public operators organised demonstrations that paralysed the country for two days. The government offered to decrease the price of diesel while raising that of kerosene, and then held special meetings with the leaders of the transport industry in Mombasa.

Thereafter, the government announced the suspension of the demonstrations pending reconciliation talks. The questions that arose were whether the transport sector leaders betrayed the people or had left the talks with happy pockets.

Fear that leaders might have sacrificed the people became part of the rising national political discourse as people counted losses or found new political attractions in Ruto’s activities at the Coast. The region is tantalising to the Kenyan elite who build luxurious hotels and holiday homes, supposedly, as in the colonial days, for what Geoffrey Griffin claimed was for health and a ‘lazima’.

‘Tutam’ champion

In Lamu, the President had his 'tutam' brigade, with Muthoni Marubu featuring prominently, singing Ruto's praises. She, in 2025, travelled from Lamu, where she serves as ‘Mama County’, to Murang’a, the home of her ancestors.

Officially, she had gone for a funeral in Kigumo, but she ended up pleasing Ruto and capturing national attention, and a bit of envy by declaring she was ‘tutam’ in a ‘wantam’ region. In Lamu with Ruto looking on, she was in her ‘element’ as ‘tutam’ champion.

Ruto’s Lamu show paled when compared to the happenings in Kilifi and Mombasa. There appeared to be security lapses at Ganze in Kilifi when a young man rushed to the dais and held Ruto’s shoulders. There followed a comedy of the Inspector General and his deputy competing to ‘fire’ Ruto’s security officials, which implied security dissonance. In Mombasa, in front of Ruto, a prominent UDA official, Hassan Omar Sarai, seemingly lost his sense of historical consciousness.

He is a scion of the Mazrui Dynasty that ruled Mombasa as private property and had benefited from British rule. When the British created the post of Chief Kadhi as an instrument of controlling the Muslims, the Mazruis served as Chief Kadhis and spread Islam inland.

Urging Arabs to embrace British education instead of the Madrassas, Chief Kadhi Mazrui warned that Arabs might end up working for the Kikuyu, whom they had previously enslaved. Among the dynasty descendants were Prof Ali Mazrui and Omar.

Prominent UDA Cabinet secretaries and ‘tutam’ operatives, observed Barrack Muluka, “refuse to demonstrate growth.” They, similar to colonial campaigns, take pride in generating and spreading anti-Kikuyu feelings. While praising Ruto, Omar emotionally attacked Jomo Kenyatta and Uhuru Kenyatta.

Proving to be worthy of ethnic hate club membership, he called for jailing the Kikuyu at Shimo la Tewa to ensure that they remain far from the national government. The public reaction to Omar’s Kikuyu hatred showed that there are rough times ahead for Ruto.