Deputy President William Ruto is a man facing missiles from all fonts including underground vernacular musician who now shoot to fame for telling him kieleweke.
There are individuals who were named by the legislators allied to him who are working to frustrate his bid.
Interestingly, the named individuals have not come out to defend themselves, despite being adversely mentioned by individuals and their names published in sections of the press.
One Political Commentator Godfrey.K.Sang avers that:
Their silence has been interpreted as guilt. But now, how would the DP work his way around them? It appears there is nothing he can do about them since he has no powers to hire or fire, and his anger now cannot so much as cause the President to lift a finger against them. He has to sit back and watch as they get over themselves fighting his candidature. In fact, despite being publicly named and shamed, they are likely to step up their efforts to fix the DP. He will not have it easy going forward
The combined financial muscle of William Ruto’s greatest antagonists Gideon, Uhuru, Raila and Musalia Mudavadi has the potential of making Ruto look like a college boy competing for the attention of a glamorous college girl against moneyed sponsors.
This is by no means saying the DP is not a man of means. Yes, he is, but he could easily be outspent. Money will make or break the Deputy President and which is why he cannot institute divorce proceedings right now.
He has to endure what is turning out to be a bad marriage with Uhuru because of the financial implications of being outside government. But money is not everything. There are instances where even the most moneyed sponsor has been rejected by the beautiful girl.
A case in point was Gideon’s recent tour of the South Rift, where unruly MCAs told him to his face that they would support Ruto, despite his overtures in their region. It became an embarrassing outing when the rather small crowd turned into an unruly shouting match between members of the public and MCAs aligned to the Deputy President.
Besides, despite being well announced in the local media, only a handful of individuals were present to welcome the Baringo senator. No significant local leaders were present, let alone his fellow senator or, at the very least, the area MP.
But that is not where Gideon’s mind is. He knows his father’s old networks remain intact across the country and that should he announce his 2022 bid, it will galvanize this group into action and if funded well, it could add crucial momentum to his presidential bid.
So far, we have tried to see what could stand in the way for DP Ruto’s candidature going to 2022. Some have intimated that the DP could be his own worst enemy after all. He sometimes lets his guard down and easily makes enemies. He also allows friends to turn into enemies and can be condescending and dismissive. He has indeed collected quite a sizeable batch of enemies in the last few years — some by himself and others on behalf of Uhuru.
There are individuals he financed to ensure his detractors were thrown off their leadership patch. He did not bother to rehabilitate his fallen detractors and this is why many of those who fell by the wayside pointed and continue to point accusing fingers at the Deputy President. Besides, he is in his element when he has a good enemy at his cross hairs. The handshake removed Raila from that list and, suddenly, he found himself with too much cannon fodder but no enemy.
In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the sailor shot a friendly albatross and was forced to wear it around his neck to shame him for the act. The flagging economy — once brilliant and unchoked by high debt — is increasingly becoming the albatross around the DPs neck. The corruption scandals that have rocked the Uhuru Administration are drawing sharp focus on his candidacy and being co-principal in this administration, he may not shake it away so easily. Besides, the purge against graft may have both intended and unintended consequences, depending on who is carrying it out.
Intended consequences for those against the DP will include ruining his candidature and sending him packing, while unintended consequences would include rubbishing any legacy project of Jubilee and aiding the ascendancy of Raila. Moving at this rate, corruption alone has the power to deluge Ruto’s candidacy and he will have a hard time selling his agenda.
In the aforementioned poem, the First Voice asks, “But why drives on that ship so fast, without wave or wind?” The Second Voice replies, “The air is cut away before, and closes from behind.”
I am afraid the air is increasingly being cut away before the DP’s sails and is closing from behind. The 2022 election is taking a life of its own.
He must do more if he is to remain on the course.
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