Deputy President William Ruto’s allies meet next week to strategise how to turn around the political fortunes of their man under continuous fire.
There is rising suspicion that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his principal assistant are no longer reading from the same page.
With analysts divided over whether the recent moves by the President are undermining his deputy, observers and Ruto’s supporters are keen to know his options as he becomes increasingly isolated in the Uhuru succession race.
Reeling from the surprise executive order by President Kenyatta last week which gave Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i chairmanship of the coordination, supervisory and strategic communication committee, there is a general agreement within Ruto’s circles that they can no longer sit and watch.
The understanding is that Ruto had initially instructed his henchmen not to be caught up in the storm in the Jubilee Party that had been ignited by his allies from Central Kenya led by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria so as not to attract fire. This too has failed.
The meeting scheduled for next week will centre on Ruto’s political survival and review of the recent move by President Kenyatta to appoint Matiang’i to the powerful committee.
The DP has for a long time been criss-crossing the country to ‘launch’ various development projects and has used this to popularise himself.
To make matters worse, a meeting of Jubilee top leadership — which comprises mostly of Ruto’s allies — called by the President ended up being a dressing down by Uhuru who demanded that they toe the party line.
The executive order released this week while the President was in a meeting in Mombasa and in the absence of his deputy, according to political analyst Dismas Mokua, effectively disconnected the DP from the functions of the sub-committee of the full Cabinet.
The sub-committee now directly reports to the President and not the presidency.