By Onyinkwa O
Well, word in the corridors of power is that a senior Statehouse official was overhead bragging that they sabotaged DP Ruto’s London trip to save him from further embarrassment given his underwhelming performance at Chatham house. Ruto was scheduled to address the Warwick African summit alongside Ghana first lady and Liberia’s Commerce minister.
To be honest I don’t like Ruto much, but I must come to his defence on this one. The comparisons being made between Ruto’s Chatham House speech and those that Raila has been delivering to global audiences over the decades is ~ in all fairness ~ unfair. Even Raila’s very first such speech decades ago must have had its flaws. Let us give Ruto time. He will learn. The fact that he went spewing that ‘wale tuliowashinda’ and ‘asiyekubalikushindwa’ crap, at such an inappropriate time or place, or the bitching he did against David Murathe are really just the product of lacking the sense of occasion to realise that he wasn’t addressing a rally in Mogogosiek. But he will learn. With time.
The deep grasp of global issues, the flawless articulation of the same, the composure, clarity of mind, message discipline, refined manners and focus that Raila Odinga displays throughout his globetrotting lecture ventures were gained through experience. Okay, admittedly, being the son of an African statesman with an aristocratic mien must have made the learning process easier for him, but that don’t mean that with more training and experience, Ruto cannot unlearn the vile stuff that his upbringing burdened him with. He can drop all his uncultured, bitter, combative and vindictive mien just like Kibaki did when he dropped the involuntary twitching of his mouth soon after assuming office upon being advised that ‘mouth twitching’ wasn’t Presidential.
By the way when is Ruto appearing in front of the Building Bridges initiative and recommend his old KANU governance structure of Saitoti as leader of government business in the house?
This man has no sweeping and earthshaking ideas. He can’t think outside the box. And that’s because he is under the illusion that he will clinch the presidency. The Chatham House speech was such a disappointment. He squandered an opportunity to reclaim his tattered international credentials.
He spoke like he was addressing some rally in Kakamega… this was so embarrassing… failed to free himself from his chains of obsessions with one man… the DP couldn’t hide that he is under pressure… needs to understand talking to an international audience…. Q & A is free style and he was a disaster
His embarrassing speech fell short of international standards.
