Is it time that Deputy President William Ruto threw in the towel and left Raila and “his brother” Uhuru Kenyatta be?
The DP has in the recent past seen himself get sidelined by the duo.
He has not only seen his roles trimmed by the elevation of Interior CS Fred Matiang’i to the hear of Government affairs, he has also seen people he once considered close allies greatly shift their attention somewhere else.
With all these, Deputy President William Ruto has only two options to deal with the situation where he finds himself — quit government or join the handshake team.
What transpired after the handshake — Stop-Ruto attacks by David Murathe (former Jubilee vice chairman), remarks by Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju and finally appointment of Fred Matiang’i (Interior CS) to head a committee overseeing government projects — are sufficient to tell that Ruto things are bad.
However, if he still hasn’t realised that, he will very soon. I don’t think this thing can be kept secret any longer. And it is not in the interest of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga to keep it hidden any longer because anything could happen, a blunder could occur. The best thing for them is to come out openly and tell Ruto, or have the Building Bridges team tell him.
So it is a question of the options he has, but at what point will he have to choose? It should be at a point where, beyond Murathe, Tuju or Matiang’i’s appointment, there would be something, a clear statement, say, for example, when Raila is brought into government.
There will be nothing else for him to wait for. He would have known. So at this point, his options will be simple — quit the government and fight the handshake team, that includes Raila and Uhuru.
He can do a Jaramogi. First Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga resigned when some elements in Kanu like Tom Mboya and others tried to water down the office of the vice president. He can leave and tell Uhuru to continue his shenanigans with Raila.
Then Ruto can fight because he still has a chance to ascend to State House. Kenyans can rebel against Uhuru and Raila, that is very possible, and they also know this.
Better still, he can join the handshake team bandwagon, just to give in and see how things pan out. And because this is Kenya, he can even sacrifice his ambitions and there is always tomorrow. If the team decides it is him, that’s fine, If it decides on Raila or someone else, that’s fine too.