Gen Z keep Ruto on a short leash after two years of unbridled power

Gen Zs cheer during the Shujaaz Memorial Concert at Uhuru Park, Nairobi on July 7, 2024. [Denis Kibuchi, Standard]

A day after he reverted to his regular combative persona, President William Ruto showed that, under the right pressure, he could learn new tricks.

Alleged to be a control freak, Ruto cut a subdued demeanour as he fired Cabinet Secretaries on Thursday, sparing only Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.

Twenty-four hours later, he could not face Kenyans to announce that he had bowed to pressure and had let go of Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome.

State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed announced the changes in a press statement.

It was a far cry from the face he put up on Wednesday when he ventured out of State House for the first time since the protests began.

Buoyed by the backing of his arch-rival Raila Odinga, President Ruto had come out emboldened, hitting out at critics, telling them to wait for the 2027 election.

This was the Ruto the nation has grown accustomed to over the years: Ever outspoken and takes no prisoners. His ascension to the presidency, after “defeating the Deep State and system”, only cemented this character.

The Commander-in-Chief started by turning Parliament, the institution meant to check his excesses, into a House of cheerleaders.

Lawmakers from the Kenya Kwanza Alliance acted on instructions from the Executive. The Opposition, too weak to offer any meaningful counter, was futile in its resistance.

He did not stop there. Faced with a Judiciary that overturned his government’s controversial policies, Ruto embarked on a smear campaign of the Chief Justice Martha Koome-led arm of government.

Private citizens on the President’s path, who he deemed corrupt or crooked in some way, faced Ruto’s wrath, expressed in the infamous phrase mambo ni matatu mantra: jail, deportation or a trip to heaven.

At the peak of his power, Ruto earned the reputation of being a poor listener. He forced through unpopular policies, such as the housing levy and new taxes, bothering little about what critics said.

In April last year, he even suggested that being unpopular did not bother him, telling leaders to pursue a career in comedy if they wanted to be popular.

When the opposition Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya challenged him in the streets last year, the President retorted that they would “protest until they got tired”.

Ruto would turn a deaf year to the opposition’s demands, later stringing them along in dialogue processes his administration initially committed to half-heartedly.

He had the power, after all, and could run his administration as he pleased. Only he was handed the “sword”, which he said was not meant to “slice vegetables”.

Such are the days he, perhaps, now longs for, given the reality that he might never wield such control again.

His presidency seems headed for a life on a leash, a short one, for that matter. Its holders, Generation Zs and Millennials, are pulling it harder than the President can handle.

“The beauty of the past three weeks is that, because we have taken back the power, we are going to set the rules and the tone of how they will behave. Right now we are in control,” rights activist Boniface Mwangi said during a citizen assembly forum at Ufungamano House in Nairobi on Friday.

But Ruto’s power was arguably an illusion, as he seemed beholden to allies who helped propel him to power. Against widespread criticism, he appointed a Cabinet of allies that was blemished from the start owing to the court cases and scandals hounding some of his nominees.

“What is it that has happened that he (Ruto) was not told would happen?” posed diplomatic history professor Macharia Munene. “He refused to listen to anyone.”

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was also giving him little breathing space. Before their fallout, Gachagua insisted that only “shareholders” would reap from the administration.

Even then, he was never under the kind of scrutiny that awaits, which former Standard editor Nzau Musau said would accompany every aspect of Ruto’s presidency.

“Every move the President makes, every travel, and every decision will enjoy better scrutiny, indeed as it should be in a functional democracy where citizens are alert and playing their oversight role, said Musau, a journalist and lawyer, pointing out that the next Cabinet would be under sharper focus than any others.

Development studies professor Winnie Mitullah also highlighted this fact owing to the high expectations among Kenyans of the Head of State.

“Some want technocrats appointed while others want to see mama mbogas in the Cabinet,” she stated.

Ruto is under more scrutiny than any other before him and stripped of the imperial power the office has been known to guarantee. The signs were there when he yielded to pressure and withdrew the unpopular Finance Bill, 2024, and a subsequent directive on austerity measures.

Succumbing to pressure and sacking Cabinet secretaries implies that Ruto will mostly be walking on eggshells - too afraid to make unpopular decisions for obvious political ramifications.

“Things will never be the same for him again. They say give them an inch, they take a yard. You give them a yard and they take a mile. The people have rediscovered their power, and now that he has given every indication he’s listening to the ground, they will keep pushing hard,” added Musau.

Indeed, having tasted victory, the youth are pushing for more. Sparing Mudavadi, they argue, proves the Head of State is not entirely committed to addressing their issues.

They want Nairobi Regional Commissioner Adamson Bungei and Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin to follow Koome out for their alleged role in the killings of more than 40 protesters. They also want action against killer police officers.

Amid this historic moment, it is almost impossible to see how Ruto governs independently of public pressure.

“It will be difficult but it depends on who he is listening to,” Prof Munene argued.

Leadership and management professor Gitile Naituli concurred, saying he will only be free to be firmly in charge “if he makes pro-people decisions”.

Uriri MP Mark Nyamita said that Ruto’s government had had its “Come to Jesus moment”, which he argued would be healthy for the nation.

“Every decision the President will be making, not necessarily out of public pressure, will carry the public interest. I see his consultation radius increasing and he will have to think beyond the people within his circle and party, which also means that numbers, especially of those around him, will no longer matter,” said Nyamita.

Musau agreed that while the pressure is good for the country, the President needs to strike the right balance between responding to public pressure and taking bold decisions “for the greater good of the society”.

“He has to be careful not to just go with the flow. Multitudes can equally mislead. Remember whom they chose to free between Jesus and Barnabas. Ultimately, one has to be a leader and lead his people, but fully conscious of their needs, aspirations and hopes,” said the former Standard editor.

Gen Zs have bigger targets, focusing their crosshairs on Parliament, which they want to be dissolved. Many are itching to recall their lawmakers once the electoral commission is reconstituted. Some are not as patient and are exploring filing petitions to the Chief Justice over the National Assembly’s unconstitutionality for failing to attain the two-thirds gender principle.

The youth have their sights set on Ruto, too. They want him to resign. “Anguka nayo,” the Gen Zs and Millennials have called out.