From bromance to bitter fallout: The political fairytale without a happy ending

President Uhuru Kenyatta with Deputy President William Ruto after the 58th Jamhuri Day Celebrations at Uhuru Gardens on 12th December 2021. [Wilberforce Okwiri,Standard]

Kenyans were never used to the public display of affection from President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto. One generation had interacted with a no-nonsense grandfatherly figure whose pronouncements were never challenged and whose deputies keenly followed in his footsteps. Never once were they allowed to colour outside the lines.

Another generation knew the presidency as an institution that was to be feared and obeyed at all times. A presidency that required you to stand at attention whenever you heard the national anthem and a vice presidency that was the tail of the dog that gave the orders. Then came, what to many, looked like a presidency that did not care much about the plight of the local man. A presidency whose sole ambition was to fix a broken country with little time to interact and politic and trade jibes with the rest of the executive.

So when Uhuru and Ruto ascended into office in 2013, they brought along something that had never been seen before. A coziness that defined the first few years of their administration before turning into a coyness, and eventually an outright breakdown of a relationship that seemed to be founded on nothing but convenience and a thirst for power by both men.

"These could never have been the foundations of a healthy relationship," political commentator Javas Bigambo says. "No matter how you looked at it, I think the beginning of their relationship was founded on deceit."

Initially, it seemed the starts were aligned to one of the most open relationships between president and his deputy.

Their very first press briefing at State House looked like a well-choreographed scene from a low-budget play. They came out smiling, holding hands, in the same attire - dark trousers, white shirts and matching red ties.

To understand their relationship in the early years one must understand the key reason to their alliance. "It was simple. They stood a better chance at getting rid of the cloud above their heads as partners rather than adversaries," lawyer Makanda Okalle says.

The cloud was the looming case at the ICC at The Hague. The reasoning among the power brokers of the day was that the only solution to keep the case off was to turn the ICC process into a political question. Doing this during a highly volatile political season had its advantages. "And what better way to make it political than have the two individuals who were then key suspects go for the country's leadership," political commentator Prof Herman Manyora says.

Their ensuing but contested win in 2013 gave them a fighting chance at the ICC. Over the years that followed, the force of the state machinery was deployed to fight the case. The infamous shuttle diplomacy was put in place. Witnesses, according to the courts, were intimidated and bribed. Many other elements eventually came together to chip at the case and by 2016, there was nothing left of it.

But by the time the two were announcing their cabinet, the relationship was already strained, with rumours of Uhuru's men looking out for a different running mate, poised to sideline Ruto and reach out to another running mate.

These attempts though never bore fruit. A different suitor was never found and once again, for convenience, Ruto remained on the ballot. But the seeds of betrayal had already been sown. With these differences in government, a difference in ideology also crept in.

"Uhuru was looking more into cementing a legacy while Ruto was planning the beginning of his own legacy," lawyer Okalle says.