From staunch Kanu man, Ruto has recast himself as a power broker

By Standard Reporter

At the end of 2002, William Ruto, the man who wants to be Kenya’s fourth president, was a dejected man. His party, Kanu, had lost the General Election after 40 years of rule.

His party’s presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta, whom he had arduously campaigned for, lost resoundingly to Narc’s Mwai Kibaki.

On the brighter side, he was inheriting a vital support base that has defined his political fortunes: the Kalenjin ‘nation’.

Ruto became the de facto Kalenjin leader after the retirement of his political mentor, President Moi, from active politics. For the next two years the Eldoret North MP became an active member of the backbench.

But the 2005 Constitutional Referendum offered him an opportunity to reinvent himself. Teaming up with disgruntled members of Narc, among them Raila Odinga, they successfully mounted a campaign against the Government-supported draft.

Having been a key leader of the Orange group that rejected the draft constitution, he was to play a central role in its metamorphosis to a political outfit, the Orange Democratic Movement, but at the expense of his party Kanu.

Ruto, 43, was one of the high-ranking Kanu officials who pushed for Kanu’s merger with ODM. This put him in conflict with party chairman Uhuru, who preferred Kanu to remain independent.

Encouraged by Raila and capitalising on the growing sentiment among the Kalenjin against Kibaki’s regime, Ruto announced his intentions to run for presidency in the 2007 General Election, effectively breaking ranks with Uhuru.

Pentagon member

When ODM split into Kalonzo-Raila camps, Ruto is believed to have favoured the former initially. He was, however, forced into the latter by a strong Raila sentiment that swept through Kalenjin land.

Key leaders among them Henry Kosgey, Sally Kosgei and the late Kipkalya Kones insisted their future lay in ODM, and in particular with the movement’s leading light Raila.

He became a member of the Pentagon, which includes Joe Nyagah, Charity Ngilu, Najib Balala, Musalia Mudavadi and Raila.

The 2007 elections led to the formation of the Grand Coalition Government and Ruto was one of the members in the Kofi Annan-led Serena team that negotiated the power sharing deal between ODM and PNU. When the Cabinet was formed, he was put in charge of the powerful Agriculture Ministry.

Name mentioned

It was at this ministry that he weathered one of the critical challenges of his career — the maize scandal that saw a Motion of censure brought against him in Parliament. However, he still has one challenge: clearing his name over the post-election violence that rocked Rift Valley last year.

The Kenya National Human Rights Commission has mentioned him in their report as having incited communities. He has gone to court seeking his name to be expunged from the report.

The son of a peasant farmer, Ruto’s rebellion against Raila is perceived as an attempt to consolidate his support base in Rift Valley, as he seeks to make new alliances.

 

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