Ruto defies odds, breaks mould on setting a legacy of historic firsts

Louis XIV was the first to be born alive to his parents King Louis XIII of France and Ann of Austria. The King and the Queen had lived together for 23 years without a child after all four children conceived and carried through pregnancy died in the womb - they call that stillbirth.

Therefore, when Louis arrived alive and kicking on 5th September 1638 he was appropriately named Louis the God given.

There begun a life of firsts for the man that fate had caused on France through to his last day where he became the first monarch in history to be succeeded by a great-grandson.

Louis to this day remains the first monarch to celebrate a platinum jubilee- 70 years on the throne.

Immediate former British monarch Elizabeth II holds second position despite dying the year of her platinum jubilee -her great great grandmother Victoria celebrated diamond jubilee in 1897 - 60 years on the throne. She died four years later, in 1901.

Louis’s was a life of many firsts and a few wars here and there during the age of renaissance when European society was embracing new ideas in politics and national leadership.

Let me now bring this life of many firsts closer home.

It was a big surprise when the Chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on August 16 declared candidate William Ruto the winner of the August 9 2022 presidential election. That was a big surprise and some Kenya Kwanza diehards, despite their public confidence and high talk on the campaign trail, in private, had wondered how that was going to be possible.

The country’s history had recorded only political misfortune to vice presidents from Jaramogi to now Ruto.

Despite changes in the laws and society expanding in thought because of education, the job of vice president in Kenya remained a disturbed office appropriately described by the media as jinxed- Ruto’s experience had confirmed that.

It was therefore the first time a sitting deputy had emerged winner against his boss the president, at a presidential election, in the country. Most vice presidents had first parted ways with their boss, joined the opposition, spent some hard times there as Kibaki had, before finally hitting home.

Jaramogi had done the same earlier and never hit home. Moi had endured tribal epithets thrown at him by the Kiambu mafia that surrounded the president while he was VP- he survived out of his miraculously enduring heart. Ruto played the opposite taking the bull by the horns.

It was therefore the first time in modern political history for a vice president to take a different path from that of his boss the president, run campaigns sometimes criticizing his boss severely and end up successful at the presidential election. That has not happened in Africa in recent times and in the books of political science that I read while studying that course at the university, it has not been recorded.

Ruto therefore was among the very few, who have gone against the first law of power as espoused by American student of classical studies Robert Greene who in 1998 pieced together a treatise that he called 48 laws of power and made  ‘Never Outshine the master” the law number one in the game of power.

In Greene’s account, even appearing more successful in your private life than the master invites misfortune. He writes that that alone has killed many careers of brilliant men - by extension many lives.

Greene cites King Louis XIV’s minister of Finance who organized a lavish party at his chateaux and invited the King. During the party almost everyone was singing praises to monsieur Nicolas Fouquet and not the king- the minister lost his job the following day.

In Ruto’s world though, while he was deputy to President Uhuru Kenyatta, his Arap Samoei warrior hood was clear.

During their first term, he seemed to stand shoulder to shoulder with his boss- he remained pragmatic, open in thought and talk, sometimes saying what other vice presidents would not say in the presence of their boss the president.

Case in point was in 2019 when he dismissed what had been reported as the Kimwarer Arror Sh 21 billion corruption scandal saying it had been misreported, “you’ve heard that the government has lost Sh 21 billion in Kimwarer and Arror dam which is a flat lie. The money in question is about 7 billion. And for every coin that has been paid, we have a bank guarantee. No money will be lost”

He said that in the presence of the president who had axed Treasury Cabinet Secretary, a man from Ruto’s backyard Henry Rotich.

It was therefore a first for a DP who had fomented a subtle rebellion against his boss the president, pushing ahead not relenting until he got his victory.

Ruto's August 2022 victory caused most that have read Greene’s book, consuming and believing its first law, to wonder about its veracity. However what we have always forgotten, is that despite that law being the first one towards success in the game of power, it also has one of the most solid reversals to it. Green says; you cannot worry about upsetting every person you come across, but you must be selectively cruel. If your superior is a falling star there is nothing to fear from outshining him.

President William Ruto, who leads the political house that I belong to (the Kenya Kwanza one), is of the many firsts destiny.

As a student of political science, I will say that that is a good sign. Such leaders across history have had one thing in common. They have charted a new path for themselves and the countries they have led.

For Ruto politics was his first job after university, he became an MP on his first attempt. He became a deputy president on his first attempt at being a running mate and became president on his first attempt at running for office of president under very rough circumstances.

Few politicians in Kenya today could have lived through what he experienced between 2019 and 2022.

Ruto’s development plan and economic policies have also appeared to reveal the same trajectory, a first president to push for changes in many sectors of public service; Health,  Housing and Urban development, foreign standing of country, security, transport, energy, activating and energizing the policy of Private Public Partnerships, all at the same time.

Most of Kenya’s presidents during their first term have done one thing at a time- Kibaki gave himself the job of freeing up basic education for the Kenyan population and launching the economic recovery plan of 2003- two key projects, Ruto has given himself many projects at the same time.

Because of that, he has turned out to be a most heavily criticised president with only two years in power; Kibaki faced such heat towards the end of his third year in power in 2005 and into his fourth year in 2006.

However, as I said, Ruto’s political life has revealed the destiny of the firsts as was Louis XIV – Such leaders have charted a path into the unknown, have faced heavy criticism and even hate, but have emerged on top.

Kenneth Lusaka is current Bungoma Governor and former Senate Speaker.