Ruto is hawking the Kalenjin- recovered post

Editor's note: This post was first published on June 27, 2007. It has since been reported to me as being corrupt. Fortunately, it was widely circulated and a good sAmaritan has sent me a copy he had saved on his pc.

That William Samoei Kipchirchir arap Ruto is a businessman with few equals is not a secret. The former student of the immortal Kapsabet Boys High School has a nose for the shilling that is unmatched by his peers and agemates. Not many of his contemporaries have seen a million shillings, except in writing, and are unlikely to see it in their lifetime. Likewise, his rise in politics was undoubtedly as meteoric as it was highly unexpected. The former meek Christian Union (CU) and North Rift Evangelistic Team (NORET) official has confounded both friend and foe. Those who know Mr. Ruto well attest to a calculating and ambitious man, sometimes the ambition leading to serious fall-outs reminiscent of betrayals and not-entirely-over-the-table decisions. It is therefore not a wonder that he fell out of favour (or is it the other way round!) with the moneyed blue-eyed boys of the Moi Statehouse - Cyrus Jirongo and Gideon Moi. What led to their fall-outs and the fact that Mr Ruto has a near sneerish gaze at them whenever he comes face to face with them is both mysterious and tempting. But that is not the hypothesis of the present thesis.

Upon the retirement of the all-domineering Senior citizen Moi, the Kalenjin Moi Statehouse squatters were orphaned. With trepidation they lived each day, not knowing when the 'incorrigible' Kiraitu Murungi-led purge of the former official thieves could come knocking on their now porous doors. For with the departure of Mr. Moi, the deepest secrets of his side-kicks, including Mr. Ruto, were filtering through. It was then that the Kalenjin were cajoled and coerced into a cocoon of fear and scouting for a protector became inevitable. Admittedly, the first goof of the nuptial Kibaki Statehouse was a direct affront on the senior Moi who was fast gaining world-wide acclaim and local sympathies for having ceded power peacefully contrary to beliefs by the doomsayers. Nonetheless, Mr. Moi was making amends with the lynch-pins in the Kibaki Statehouse and as it became increasingly clear that he was safe, his former army of tainted poodles were running scared. Mr Ruto emerged as a noisy champion of Kalenjin 'rights to live in Kenya' and this elevated the former humble AIC-adherent to pop-status overnight. That emergence of Ruto came, perhaps by happenstance rather than design, with the emergence of the immensely popular vernacular radio station, Kass FM. Matters were to be God-sent when, unprovoked, some thinkers in the Kibaki Statehouse and particularly at the Information ministry imposed an illegitimate, if entirely unwarranted, attempt to gag the station. When Mr. Sang of Kass FM was thrown into a police cell, Ruto rallied the Kalenjin people to a free advertisement and instant elevation, of both Kass FM and Sang on the one hand and Ruto himself and a number of opposition MPs on the other, to glorified protectors of the Kalenjin against collective persecution by the Kibaki puritanists and Kalenjin-hate machine. It was therefore natural and a very logical consequence when Mr. Ruto decided to throw in the towel and offer himself as a presidential candidate in the crowded, if star-studded, ODM-Kenya. This came hot on the heels of Mr. Ruto having led his politically conscious constituency of Eldoret North to provide the highest count of 'NO' or Orange support against the mutilated and doctored constitution. Even when he was crowned as a Kalenjin elder, he still enjoyed near-hysterical support. The rest, as they say, is history.

After releasing his blue-print which was duped "A Kenya for all Kenyans", Ruto was hailed as a serious contender for Statehouse and not merely one escorting others to the gate. Although his vision was lacking in intellectual input and was massively silent on cardinal pillars of development for the 21st century and beyond (health, science and technology and anti-corruption), it was an eye-opener. That Kenya suffers political plagiarism is not unique. Many people simply take blue-prints and cover the original author's name with the sorry mistake that they forget to replace other salient items of identity. Nonetheless, Ruto promised a fair distribution of wealth, although the vision was silent on wealth creation. You cannot divide ugali equally unless you have made it! One could as well say that Raila's sterling and Hollywood-style launch was a stark revision of the preceding launch episodes. That of course is not to be taken at face-value because one may as well wish to ask why Joseph Nyaga decided to offer a comical display while he launched his with the laughable rider "I'm more educated than all the others" which only served to underline the below-par delivery of service that awaits Kenyans from President Joe Nyaga. It will be safe to imagine that Ruto evolved a highly unjustified ideation that he was as good as the 'god of the Kalenjin' with the launch. This possibly meant that he regarded the Kalenjin vote as his to lose. Suffice it to say that the Kenyan media treated the launch unjustly, offering him just but a page five three-paragraph coverage for all the evening's worth. Well that is an issue for the 'members of the fourth estate'. Notably, the Kenya Times, which Mr. Ruto is fighting a court case to take it away from Kanu members, gave him a front-page coverage. Another day we will revisit the claim that Mr. Ruto has vandalised the printing press in a bid to steal the newspaper.

Concomitant with Ruto's release of his vision and entry into the real-politik arena was a claim by the diminutive and highly experienced Kiprono Nicholas Kipyator arap Biwott's claim of Kanu. Derisively of course, Ruto et al dismissed Mr. Biwott and failed to notice the invisible hand of the senior Moi in the machinations. Soon it was to dawn on Ruto that, like Mr. Kenyatta, all of Moi's students cannot claim to graduate themselves unless the grand-master offers the green-light. He has woken up to realise in the last few weeks that he is currently party-less because Mr. Kenyatta has chickened out of the ODM-K juggernaut with the instruments of Kanu. Mr. Ruto, is therefore, in ODM-K as an individual, virtually party-less and with no bargaining chip. Although he took for granted certain undercurrents of the old Kalenjin suspicions, Ruto was to rue his wasted opportunities when the more experienced Henry Kosgey decided to openly back Raila and therefore drew a clear boundary between the ambiguity with which Mr. Ruto was moving around his politics and his resolute determination not to allow the Nandi to be 'held by the nose' for another 24 years. It is instructive that there is no love lost between Ruto and Kosgey, indeed almost any other Kalenjin leader who doesn't seem to grovel at Ruto's feet. Again things were not helped by Ruto's penchant of 'pursuing a snake to its hole' by stirring the hornet's nest each time he seemed to dismiss the senior Moi.

That some people have issues to grind with Mr. Moi because of his overbearing nature in politics is not news. However, the Kalenjin peoples' magnanimity should not be underestimated. In like manner, Ruto's tendency was spiralling fast towards the big-man syndrome and he was developing enemies among the elite in the Kalenjin community while accumulating a category of followers that are known for insults and lack of respect. This explains why he has reached where he is. At almost the same time, Mr. Ruto awoke to rude realities that the Nandi were pulling in tandem with Kosgey towards Raila, the Keiyo seem stagnant with Biwott while the Tugen are mark-timing with the cultic Moi family. These are not helped by the fact that some enigmatic Kipsigis leaders like his former schoolmate Nick Salat (who has stuck with his bakule Gideon, and Biwott) and the ebullient Kipkalya arap Kones (who, together with his Bakule Franklin Bett, are gravitating towards Raila Odinga in the ODM-K fallout) dropped Ruto's candidature like a hot potato! Consequently, Ruto has been left with a skeleton of hangers-on who have more fights on their own hands. Add these to the dilemma of a man with no secretariat for his presidential campaigns and you have a president indeed (tongue-in-cheek)!

It is important to note that the choice of an ODM-K candidate is not without pitfalls and the dangers of irreparable splits. Consensus is seemingly the most viable means at arriving at a winner. However, consensus should be guided on the principle that the most popular candidate be chosen. As matters stand in the fluid politics of Kenya, it would seem too soon to pick a candidate. One only needs to see the sharp fall of Kalonzo Musyoka from the overwhelming candidate of choice a few months ago to an also-run these days. Raila started off with a consistent sub-20% approval, he has risen now to become the only logical consensus candidate. What happens if the wave changes against him later? Raila is the man of the moment and to ask him to step down in favour of anybody else is laughable. That the Kalenjin are yearning for a consensus is no secret. That they want to support a decision that involves the winner, is without doubt, unmistakeable. It would seem natural, therefore, that our leaders need a close, even parasitic relationship with the people. For to ask Raila to step down when the gods are smiling at him is to ask the Kalenjin people to throw their caution to the wind. That is not practical and Ruto's think-thank seems to have gone on holiday the moment it appeared that he had everyone of us under wraps. 'Ma ki esee beep suuswo', the wind is blowing away that confidence with the consequence that the nakedness of the leaders are being revealed for all and sundry to see!

When Mr. Ruto, therefore, decided to pay a highly unexpected and unprovoked, if poorly thought out, tour to Nyanza MPs few of his supporters expected him to propose the ridiculous things that he did. Proposing to Mr. Odinga that they step down 'for the sake of a winning formula', Ruto got a taste of his medicine when the Nyanza entourage told him to his face to forget it. It is important that hot on the heels of this, Kass FM's fans took an unscientific but probable poll which showed that 74% of the Kalenjin would like to vote for Raila against 14% and 12% for Kalonzo and Mudavadi, respectively. The stark contrast between Mr. Ruto's alleged winning formula and the Kalenjin peoples' aspirations showed a man living on planet Mars. This is the consequence of pride and the schemes of a nakedly greedy man who lacks respect for the collective hope vested on him by the Kalenjin people. Left holding a dead baby in his hands, Ruto has refused to take counsel and retreat to seek the Kalenjin peoples' direction for the future. As I pen this argument, it is emerging that Mr. Ruto was yesterday steeped in yet another controversial effort to woo Mr. Musyoka to step down for Mudavadi. He could as well be heading to Kalonzo with the false believe that he will appear as a champion of sacrifice. What a fallacy! That Mr. Ruto was a pedestrian in the political terrain is now an open secret. That he is running from hotel to hotel hawking the Kalenjin vote and support is ridiculous and borders on the absurd. If Ruto does believe in Mr. Odinga stepping down, why didn't he contemplate asking him to step down and support the Ruto campaign? Why has Mr. Ruto not seen it wise to ask the others to step down for Raila, the overwhelmingly popular candidate at the moment? Is he serving his narrow, business-like interests with this new move or is he a Jeremiah for the Kalenjin?

It would now appear that Ruto is interested in deal-making as a means to nominating the ODM-K flag-bearer to the chagrin of Mr. Odinga and all democrats in the ODM-K. Mr. Odinga, like many ODM-K followers, believes in holding primaries to sort out the candidacy. It is important to note that the decision to back boardroom selections are reminiscent of all of Mr. Moi's 'speak with one voice' mantra. Question is, is Mr. Ruto hawking the Kalenjin for their good or for his good? Who mandated Ruto to 'do a deal' with the less popular candidates when he has not asked the Kalenjin people for the direction? The last time Ruto held a massive rally, it was at Kapkatet. At that meeting, just like on Kass FM, he had sworn to the point of telling off Mr. Moi that he was not going to give up the race. Why is he betraying the collective hope and aspirations of the Kalenjin? Why is he backing a minority candidate, when all indicators are that the Kalenjin 'koyameechin botaan keelog' to support Mr. Odinga's viable-ever bid for Statehouse. Is Mr. Ruto a mere pedestrian who wanted to use us to up his stakes in a game we least understood? Does anybody care to tell him to learn a culture of discussion and feedback so that people know why and where he is going? Or has he fallen to the old dismissive antics of 'leen nee noo?' Ko koaldeech arap Ruto, period!