William Ruto is a man on a mission. A mission to occupy State House in 2022. And the man from Sugoi has set his eyes on the prize. He has devised a way that he thinks will enable him ascend to the house on the hill.
And for him, the strategy is to criss-cross the country, meeting people and dishing out money in numerous church fund raisers.
His numerous trips prompted the President who is also his boss to say that the self proclaimed hustler is a man who likes kutangatanga.
“Hii kijana anaitwa Ruto unajua kila weekend anatangatanga kila mahali… atakua anapitia hizi machorochoro”, loosely translated to; this young man called Ruto, you know he likes roaming everywhere every weekend. He will be passing through these routes.” The President said during an event in Embakasi.
But it seems the Kutangatanga is affecting the DP’s health. That is if pictures of him looking tired and rugged are to be believed.
Over the weekend during a fundraising in aid of building a dormitory at Elburgon secondary school, the DP seemed exhausted this is after attending almost three events in Kimilili, Eldoret and Nakuru the same day.
Late Night Meetings
It has been revealed that Ruto is reaping maximum benefits from his frequent visits around the country, using day time to drum up support for Jubilee’s Big Four Agenda, and night time to recruit politicians into his 2022 camp.
In the last few days he has met leaders at night in Meru, Nyeri, and Turkana, and more such meetings are planned across the country. The meetings start at 8pm and last into the night, sometimes well past 1am. Mr Ruto’s preferred attendees during these nocturnal discussions are elected leaders, particularly members of county assemblies and MPs.
He recently met with county Speakers at his Karen office in Nairobi, and even though a press dispatch indicated the meeting had steered clear of politics, the move to assemble regional Speakers in one room is indicative of the direction his campaign to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022 is taking.
For one, this was the first meeting where all Speakers of county assemblies had met a top Jubilee leader and, encouraged by the outcome, Mr Ruto is now extending his embrace to include the country’s MCAs, whose legislative direction is moderated by the Speakers he met.
Last week in Meru, Mr Ruto held a late night meeting with local leaders after a daylong tour of the region during which he inspected development projects. He was escorted during the tour by Senate Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki as Governor Kiraitu Murungi was attending a wedding of a close relative.
The next day Mr Ruto was in Nyeri, where he hosted leaders, once again, for a night meeting during which he sought to allay fears that he was at odds with the Head of State.
During the three-hour indoor meeting at Fairmont Hotel in Nanyuki, Mr Ruto said President Kenyatta supports his 2022 ambitions, and that the handshake between the Head of State and opposition leader Raila Odinga has not changed the Jubilee leaders’ political vision.
Two MCAs who attended the talks on Saturday said that Mr Ruto spent considerable time quelling fears of a falling-out with the President and divisions in Jubilee Party.
Mr Ruto is also said to have told the gathering on the foot of Mt Kenya that President Kenyatta will personally campaign for him when the season comes. The MCAs requested anonymity for fear of reprisals from the party, but said they had been invited for the meeting by Nyeri County Deputy Speaker Samuel Kariuki.