By trying to become the President of the Republic of Kenya, DP William Ruto is seeking to achieve what has never been achieved by a sitting Vice President in Kenya.
This is because what was to be a smooth transition from President Uhuru Kenyatta to him is turning into a nightmare of a more serious opposition that is emerging from different .
Ruto’s 2022 presidential ambition faces major obstacles threatening to scuttle his bid, despite his relentless campaigning to succeed Uhuru.
The fast-shifting political dynamics in Kikuyu politics, coupled with the unsettling truce between Uhuru and ODM leader Raila Odinga, pose a grave threat to Ruto’s State House bid.
And then there’s the fact that some of Ruto’s allies are quietly being removed from plum positions, while others re facing corruption charges.
David Murathe who is Uhuru’s close ally, openly asked Ruto to retire alongside the President in 2022.
His remarks triggered a political firestorm that has widened the rift within the President’s ruling party.On Wednesday, Murathe bluntly stated he Kikuyu community does not have any MoU with Ruto regarding support in 2022.
“If he (Ruto) has an MoU with Uhuru Kenyatta, then that was an agreement between two individuals,” Murathe said in Vihiga during the Maragoli Cultural Celebrations.
Murathe is not an ordinary politician.
Apart from being Uhuru’s long-time friend, Murathe played a key role in a special group of senior individuals in government and from the financial sector, mainly from the Mt Kenya region. This group quietly but diligently campaigned for Uhuru’s re-election and raised a lot of money.
This group, its members trusted by the President, reportedly has been working behind the scenes to whose members are trusted by the president, has reportedly been working behind the scenes to sink Ruto’s political aspirations.
Ruto is considered the face of the anti-referendum push backed by key opposition figures.
Further complicating the DP’s political matrix, the powerful Kikuyu Council of Elders had in June asked Ruto to be “satisfied with his 10-year tenure as DP” and not to aspire further.
Ruto’s ascendancy to power was hinged on the populous Kikuyu vote and that in his own Kalenjin backyard.
The two communities are seen to have ‘the tyranny of numbers’ that propelled President Kenyatta to power for two terms.According to the IEBC the Kikuyu number about seven million voters, while the Kalenjin are just below five million.
The presidency traditionally has been determined by five populous communities, the Kikuyu, Luhya, Kalenjin, Luo and Kamba.
Raila has already ring-fenced his Luo community and is fighting to retain the Coast region, despite frenetic efforts by Ruto to neutralise his influence and appeal to the region’s sense of historical victim hood.
Ruto also has a herculean task to penetrate Western Kenya where he undertaken numerous charm offensives, given that ANC Leader Musalia Mudavadi is positioning himself as Central Kenya’s alternative. And a pair of steady hands.
The Luhya community voted overwhelmingly for Raila in the past three elections.
After the March 9 handshake and camaraderie with Uhuru, Raila’s fortunes in Mount Kenya appears to have amplified as leaders from the region troop to his office.
Uhuru and Raila have also become bosom friends, prompting fears the two have a secret power pact that excludes Ruto in 2022.
The high-profile visit by Uhuru to Nyanza, including Raila’s Bondo home, set tongues waging about their ‘real’ mission.
Should the handshake give Ruto something tow worry about? Absolutely.
Allegations have had it that the Uhuru-Raila handshake,has been hijacked and weaponised to kill the DP’s presidential bid.