The walls of Kilgoris and parable of divide between rich and poor

Raila Jnr was seen addressing residents over the fence during Charlene Ruto's koito at President William Ruto's Kilgoris Farm.

I heard it on the grapevine that some killjoys are spreading rumours that Prezzo Bill Ruto locked out his Kilgoris neighbours during his daughter Charlene’s big day, reportedly using former Prezzo Uhuru Kenyatta aka UK’s maxim: kumeza mate si kula nyama. It means salivating from appetising smells isn’t same as eating meat.

This rumour was enhanced by the picture of Raila Junior greeting locals through the towering fence that separated the village and the private airstrip at Intona Ranch, where locals had assembled to watch the aerial spectacle.

Kenyans from all walks of life, from elders to watchmen, or whatever name they have been assigned lately, have been camping at the State House in Nairobi for banquets, so I don’t believe, even for a moment, that Prezzo would have ordered villagers in Narok locked out of the wedding.

Here’s the thing: this is the season of politicking and innocuous visuals like open-mouthed villagers choking in the dust kicked off by choppers as they delivered well-heeled politicos have been interrupted as compelling summations of the “bottom up” nonsense, and the lived experience of the hoi polloi.I have a different view altogether.

I mean, let’s be fair to Prezzo Ruto. His daughter’s wedding is not a public affair. It is a family event, that’s why only close family members attended. Neither was it a class fad, else, why would Oscar Sudi, reportedly a class two dropout, be doing in the learned company of Prezzo Ruto, who has a doctorate in plants something something?

The same killjoys are reminding that the previous owner of Intona Ranch, Joseph Murumbi, would be turning in his grave, watching the desecration of his land through such opulent displays. Once again, that’s an unfair comparison to make.

The son of a Maasai woman and a Goan father, Murumbi rose to serve as Vice President of this great nation in 1966, when he resigned to protest the murder of his bosom buddy, Pio Gama Pinto.

He would dedicate the rest of his life away from politics, collecting art and rare books, most of which were donated to the Kenya National Archives. He was reunited with Pinto in death, buried beside Pinto’s grave at City Park. Some idiots tried to desecrate their memory by building on their graves, before a lobby scuttled this plan.

Once again, it is unfair to compare Murumbi with Prezzo Ruto. Well, both did serve as Vice Presidents of this nation, one for nine months, the other for ten years. One left at the slightest hint of discord, the other fought tooth and nail to stay put.

And while Murumbi was a man of substantial wealth, most of it was in the realm of the arts, a field that Prezzo Ruto thinks a complete waste of time. And Murumbi donated to a public institution for the betterment of society. As far as I know, Prezzo Ruto has given nothing to the public in his lifetime.

That doesn’t mean he is stingy or hard-up. If you believe former DP Rigathi Gachagua aka Riggy G, all government activities over the last four years have been cultivated towards the improvement of Ruto Inc.

Once again, I think that’s an unfair assessment since we don’t have any data to illustrate how Ruto Inc. has improved over the last four years. Quite the contrary, Prezzo Ruto looks a little famished, like someone who isn’t eating well. We should let him be, just this once.

As for the peasants who neighbour his expansive ranch in Kilgoris, they should be reminded that we don’t choose our neighbours. They just have to made do with what they were given.