Ruto is now going by a pseudo name “Bamba 100 or Bamba Soo”: a name that stems from the main reasons for him hitting the headlines. Having started with a storm over the alleged 100million luxury jet, he again made the headlines through the supposed plans to renovate his new house at 100million before he moves in to it. It must not be lost to the taxpayer that the house had already cost them about 400million. It would be expected that a 400million home would be sufficient for the deputy president. The blot on his record also reinforces the Bamba Soo nickname where 100 acres of land in his possession was found to be irregularly held prompting the high court to rule that the land is returned to the original IDP, Mr. Muteshi. What one must find intriguing is the consistency with which Ruto is being cast in negative light. With each breaking news on the son of the Nandi, it appears that the public like him less. The latest public appearance by the deputy president was a spirited attempt to appeal to the teachers to uphold the court ruling ordering them back to work. He also categorically dismissed the idea of abandoning the laptop project in favour of paying the teachers. Any neutral observer would tell authoritatively that this was a misplaced priority. Class one children need to learn to read and write and learn to make sense with a pencil in their hands before they can engage the keyboards. Government, whoever that is, chose Ruto to be the one to go to the public and make zero sense while agitating the teachers even further. It is important for one to note that Ruto was previously a little favourable to teachers through his vocal appeals in support for teachers to be paid accordingly. This is why this smells like a set up. In my opinion, there was no urgency in the issue. Ruto could have let the president deal with it when he comes back: it was an unnecessary suicide pill. Besides, the facts presented by Ruto would come off as dishonest. The agreement that was claimed to have varied the 1997 KNUT deal that was read out is said to be the same one that parliament voided in 2012. He ought to have known that and using it as an argument projects him as dishonest and untrustworthy. This is disastrous for a leader. I have said it before, and I must reiterate this: Ruto is not the King Maker. Uhuru would still be president today even if his running mate would be from the little known Aembu community. The real kingmakers are elsewhere and Uhuru will never be fully in charge unless his roots them out. Nevertheless, Ruto can be a formidable figure especially is he turns spiteful. Ruto has one main undoing: that of spite. The manner in which he spited his former political ally Raila Odinga is a fact that any political partner would remain alive to. Having played a role in Raila’s 2007 victory, he opted to adopt the interpretation that he had made a greater contribution since the Kalenjins had overwhelmingly voted for Raila. This interpretation put to nought the non-campaign contribution of other partners and it informed his demand for the deputy premier position. When it was not forthcoming, he demanded to be the deputy party leader. But further differences with the mainstream ODM party made things less rosy. When ODM pushed for a local tribunal to be established to try the PEV cases, Ruto had fears that this was a move to try and fix him. He therefore broke ranks with the party and pushed for the ICC through the slogan “don’t be vague, go to Hague”. The reasoning behind his move would later be explained in a rally where he claimed that he did not expect the Kenyan cases to be prosecuted before 2090: and by then, none of the suspects would be alive. What followed was utter spite that saw Ruto pair up with Kibaki’s wing of the coalition to undermine Raila’s political strength. Unfortunately for Ruto, his past testifies against him. No political partner would want him to be strong. Differences are bound to occur in a political alliance and one always wants the assurance that the second party will be patient to allow the differences to die out. With Ruto, it’s a different ball game: the likelihood of him turning spiteful is high. It’s therefore not a surprise that Ruto is being fixed. Without having to speculate on the recent meeting between Moi and Uhuru, all the signs are on the wall. He’ll be made so unpopular that he will literally need to cling to Uhuru Kenyatta to survive. His charisma and eloquence will lose sense as the plan unfolds. His only salvation is to pull out at the earliest opportunity: but then again, it may already be too late for him.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 13:05:37 +0000
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