I have not defected to Jubilee- Isaac Ruto

• Former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto explains his reasons for quitting Nasa and why he refused to wear a Jubilee cap
• Ruto also opens up on the pain of losing a daughter and the day President Moi left him stranded in a foreign land

You have a rebellious streak. When did you first stand up against authority?

When we were in student leadership (at the University of Nairobi), our job was to ‘say it as it is’. We considered ourselves the ‘barometer’ of the day and spoke out fearlessly. That remains my character. I have never shied away from making my point known.

You went to university when students were paid ‘boom’. How did you spend that cash?

It was the first time I was seeing money in thousands. In 1980, Sh5,400 was like Sh100,000 today. I bought necessities like soap and clip boards and fashionable clothes and a cassette recorder and player… Some of us bought vinanda!

But also I saved some of the money and bought and sold plenty of chicken during long holidays when I also doubled up as a village photographer.

University students now live in squalor. How will that affect who they will become?

Their self-esteem is thoroughly limited, their sense of worth is questioned. Here are brilliant students living in conditions that suggest otherwise. Only the children of the rich enjoy university.

You didn’t last long as Student Organisation of Nairobi University (SONU) vice chairman…

A number of things happened at the university shortly before the coup in 1982 that forced me to resign. Being a Kalenjin, and  given the political situation in the country, there was suspicion among students that I was sympathetic to the Moi regime after I opposed a threat by students to go on the rampage because we had not made the decision as the students’ union.

This angered some of the students who thought I was compromised. I stepped down as the vice chair of SONU but I remained the representative of my faculty.

What happened to SONU leaders after the 1982 coup?

I was arrested in Eldoret alongside Kipchirchir Murgor, David Murathe and Musalia Mudavadi. For three months we were interrogated thoroughly but luckily, I was not charged.

My friend, Sonu chairman Titus Adongosi, was sentenced to ten years for sedition. Unfortunately, he died in prison.

Moi threw you out of his plane in a foreign land. What had happened?

It is normal for politicians to disagree. Unfortunately for me the President and I disagreed on foreign land when I found out that he was grooming my rival John Koech to replace me as Chepalungu MP, the same way Jubilee did for Joyce Laboso.

I also thought Kanu members should be allowed to elect a presidential candidate between Odinga, Saitoti, Kalonzo and Uhuru Kenyatta in a free and fair manner. Mzee Moi found that very disrespectful. I not only missed a plane ride, but spent five years in the political cold!

Musalia Mudavadi was your campus mate. What kind of guy was he?

Mudavadi was just like he is today. He was not noisy but always put his point of view across clearly. You would never have guessed he was the son of a powerful minister.

Kenyans were impressed with the way you handled your election loss...

I handed over but did not congratulate (Dr Joyce) Laboso for the win (as Bomet Governor). Neither did I concede defeat because there were a lot of irregularities in that election. My chief agents were arrested. Some are still in court. Others were haunted out of their homes and denied access to polling stations.

There was harassment and heavy police and provincial administration interference in the election…and what we have seen in the role of electronic devices. I told my family that I was not ready to get into duel because the forces against me and my supporters were way beyond our capacity.

I have decided to keep quiet and concentrate on my private life.

Is Bomet in safe hands?

I promised to keep off the affairs of Bomet County and allow Joyce Laboso to have her time. We must allow change of leadership once in a while.

Your defection was totally out of character. Were you blackmailed?

I have not defected; I am still the party leader of Chama Cha Mashinani. I was persuaded (to support President Uhuru’s re-election) by the need to keep the community together and the fact that 60 per cent of the people who voted for me still voted for Uhuru Kenyatta.

Only 35 per cent agreed with me and voted Nasa. I did not want to continue to disagree with the 60 per cent. I even refused to wear the Jubilee kofia. I heard some people saying that I was threatened but there is no such thing. No one offered favours

There are rumours that you could be appointed Devolution or Agriculture Cabinet Secretary...

I have not discussed that with anyone.

Ideologically, your thinking is very different from what the leadership of Jubilee espouses. How will you fit in?

Re-election of Uhuru is a matter that we will be done in three weeks and after that we look at the agenda on the table. Everyone will be free to contribute in the way he or she looks. Obviously you can be sure I have not sold my soul and you will hear more of me moving forward.

I have not sacrificed all the things I have been espousing over the years and it is not possible to do that. Keeping quite does not mean you subscribe to what you do not believe in.

What are the happiest and saddest moments of your life?

I am generally happy man so I can’t pinpoint my happiest moment. But my saddest moment is when I lost my daughter and my father. It was quite devastating. I have not come to terms with it.

The Young Turks, how come none of them became president of Kenya?

History has a strange way of handing back the gains to ‘collaborators’. The prime movers of revolutions do not necessarily inherit the reins because every revolution often eats its own children.

It is therefore not surprising that the Young Turks did not inherit the reins of power in spite of their tremendous contribution to the emancipation of Kenyans from the yoke of authoritarianism.

See? Muite has gone to console himself at The Bar. No one wants to listen to Martha Karua. Where are akina Musikari Kombo and the rest?

Martin Shikuku never became a minister in spite of his passionate belief in the rights of ordinary Kenyans. I, therefore, don’t find it strange that Young Turks simply fell by the wayside.

What tips would you give a newly married man?

The choice you have made is the right choice; so make it work. Look forward to staying together and growing together.