What is William Ruto up to?
Published on
By Standard on Sunday Team
Mr William Ruto is in a spot, with those who admire his courage and those who loathe his abrasiveness watching his every move.
Born William Kipchirchir Samoei arap Ruto three years after Independence, the Eldoret North MP is on the knife-edge of national admiration and loathe.
Several factors have woven him into the subject of national debate, the latest being his vocal opposition to Justice Philip Waki’s recommendations on post-election violence, and subsequent threat to abandon Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who has taken the opposite view.
Those who claim Ruto had a hand in post-election violence see him as a ‘warlord’.
He has denied this claim. His constituency, and the larger Kalenjin region, was one of the volatile spots.
This lot also perceive him to be another of the ‘Kanuists’ who jumped off the Independence party to give themselves a fresh political coating. He was, after all, one of retired President Moi’s loyalists just before the 2002 General Election. Though they later broke ranks, his footprints in Kanu, where he was secretary general and minister, remain.
On paper, he retains the national party title at the Attorney General’s office; even as speculation is rife he could be eyeing a new bargaining chip – the little known United Democratic Party.
But others see him as an energetic, young mobiliser who represents the new crop of politicians, marking the generational change epitomised in Mr Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential bid in 2002, against President Kibaki.
In ODM, to which he is not only a Pentagon member but also key plank having roped in the weighty Kalenjin vote in the Rift Valley, Ruto’s move is keenly being watched.
The question on many lips is what would be left of ODM should he pull out along with 16 loyal MPs to protest against Raila’s initial unconditional support for the implementation of Waki Report.
First, it will slice off Raila’s party command of the House, which is ahead of President Kibaki’s friendly parties’ combined force by a handful seats.
Choices
Secondly, it could make him the subject of seduction by other political kingpins eyeing State House in 2012. As a falling out with Raila, said to have been forestalled in a private ‘Pentagon’ dinner at the PM’s Karen home last week, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Justice Minister Martha Karua went stomping in Ruto’s ‘kraal’. They subtly presented themselves as fitting heirs to Raila’s shoes in the Rift, and Kibaki’s in the national arena, when he retires.
Thirdly, it could break him, if the Kalenjin choose to stick to ODM and pick another captain. For now, it is unlikely the community that has had a spat with Raila over the Waki Report and the proposed Mau Forest evictions, is ready to walk into isolation, outside ODM’s orbit. It is even more unlikely the community has a leader who can quickly step into Ruto’s shoes and move on without him in a party polls say is the most popular.
To his credit, he has galvanised the kind of support that may take years to ‘dilute’. He is also buoyed by his eloquence, scheming and networking. But still in politics, a week is a long time.
Ruto’s opponents say he is torpedoed by unbridled ambition and is anchoring his politics onto some form of political cultism, which may make him more vulnerable than his supporters think.
Finally, there are those who argue that Raila and Ruto need each other more than they seem to appreciate. They add that if they part ways, the jolt to their political careers may be irreparable and irrecoverable.
But like all forms of politics, even as Ruto and Raila sugarcoat their icy relations with high-sounding words on regard for each other, the undercurrents tell a different story.