Uhuru now turns into kingmaker as Ruto makes up ground in Central

Clutching at everything he can to keep his ship steady, President William Ruto is reaching out to old allies turned foes.

He recently met former President Uhuru Kenyatta, a man Dr Ruto had spent his last five years as DP and first few months in office fighting.

Slightly over two years ago, Ruto had conquered the insurmountable. He had beaten Uhuru’s preferred candidate—former Prime Minister Raila Odinga—to claim the presidency.

He and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua would remind everyone who dared forget the feat they had just achieved. They would say Uhuru was unwanted, and hence he lost (despite not being on the ballot). 

Preferring a non-confrontational approach, the former president dodged the pair’s broadsides, scarcely surfacing to remind his successors to focus on their mandate instead.

For more than two years, Uhuru has largely disappeared from the limelight. Before he shared a podium with Ruto and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki in Embu last month, the former president’s most memorable appearances were forced by a flexing of State power.

In April last year, he pushed back against a hostile takeover of his Jubilee Party by allies of Ruto. A month earlier, at the height of anti-government protests, goons invaded his family’s farm as police turned a blind eye. The Kenyatta’s kept mum.

Later in July, Uhuru showed up at his son’s residence to protest an apparent harassment by security agencies. Things have drastically changed in the last two years. The ‘unwanted’ finds himself pursued by suitors hoping to reap politically.

“Those who were initially dismissive of him have followed him to Ichaweri where they vowed to send him. Of course, they are hoping to gain. That is why they want to milk every innocent encounter,” Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni said of Ruto’s recent meeting with Uhuru in Ichaweri.

Indeed, that fact has been apparent in Ruto’s interpretation of a courtesy call he paid the former Head of State, implying he is pursuing a political deal akin to his ‘broad-based’ arrangement with Raila.

“It is indeed our place as a country to work together to find common ground on things that are of national interest. It is the reason why I am working with the former prime minister, it is the reason why I have reached out to the former president,” Ruto said in Wajir.

Facing backlash in Uhuru’s native Mt Kenya region over Gachagua’s impeachment in October, analysts argue that Ruto relishes any support he can gain from Central, which had tipped the scales for him in 2022.

A photo-op with Uhuru, a man once considered the region’s kingpin, may offer some boost. Ruto is only the latest to make such a realisation. At the height of his impeachment, Gachagua invoked Uhuru’s name to win over Mt Kenya, which was yet to fully embrace him as the latter’s successor.

He claimed his troubles owed to his association with the former president, who he has reconciled with recently.

Former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, a presidential hopeful, has also seemed to favour keeping Uhuru close. Some observers have argued that he could help influence the 2027 presidential race.

“Anyone would be stronger with the former president in their corner,” said Kioni. “He is in high demand because of his track record, the performance of his Jubilee party... and his consistency. One may not have liked what he said but he was consistent about it.”

University don Gitile Naituli concurred and further argued that Uhuru lacked significant influence.

“If he did he would have made Raila president,” said Prof Naituli. “Many only view Uhuru as a ‘prophet’ who predicted that Ruto would be a failure as president but he has nothing to offer them,” he added, saying that Uhuru’s influence would only count for much if he supported Kalonzo or a different candidate.

“Ruto is the most effective civic educator against a system run by the elite and any alliance between him and Uhuru would be viewed as such. Similarly, Uhuru already said Ruto was unfit to be president and he would struggle to change that perception now,” said Prof Naituli.

Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi, a member of Kalonzo’s Wiper party, argued that Uhuru’s networks would be helpful to a presidential hopeful.