Ruto vows not to quit as party purge weeds out his pointmen

Deputy President William Ruto after a past press address from his Karen home. [File, Standard]

Deputy President William Ruto has reportedly told close allies he will not be provoked into a fight with President Uhuru Kenyatta, and asked his supporters not to play into the hands of their rivals.

The DP is said to have met some MPs on Saturday in the wake of a sustained onslaught against his allies in Parliament. Jubilee Party’s rival wing has already toppled Kipchumba Murkomen and Susan Kihika from Senate Majority Leader and Majority Chief Whip posts, respectively.

Dr Ruto has publicly avoided commenting on the coup staged during a Parliamentary Group (PG) meeting chaired by President Kenyatta, the party leader. The deputy party leader snubbed the meeting, held at State House last Monday, and has reportedly advised his allies to avoid any confrontation with the president.

Disciplinary hearing

Today, five nominated senators who risk losing their seats for failing to attend the PG meeting convened by Uhuru are expected to appear before the Jubilee Party disciplinary committee chaired by lawyer Lumatete Muchai, with sources saying their fate is sealed.

According to a source present at the meeting with the DP over the weekend, Ruto said he is not interested in engaging his boss in a war of words and has opted to maintain his silence in the face of what he considers provocation.

And with the purge that started at the Senate expected to extend to Ruto allies holding top posts in the National Assembly, like Aden Duale (Majority Leader) and Benjamin Washiali (Chief Whip), the DP is said to have appealed for restraint from his lieutenants.  

“In war, you don’t show your enemies all the arsenal; you will lose. You must retreat and study how far they can go and strategise on how to counter,” a source in attendance quoted the DP telling them.

“This is just the beginning. It’s too early for them to celebrate,” he reportedly added.

Ruto said he was aware of the schemes to provoke him to quit government, but he would not bow to pressure.

“I know they are after me. I will stay put and keep my silence. This purge against my allies is targeted at forcing me to quit,” the source further quoted the DP as saying.

Ruto is said to have wondered why some people were asking about his whereabouts while his camp was under attack, yet he was busy with official duties.  

“For now, I will not engage or respond. I will continue serving needy Kenyans during this Covid-19 pandemic. This is more pressing and urgent. Already, people are asking where is the DP? I am here, discharging my constitutional duty and I will not stop now,” he explained.

At the meeting, opinion was divided on whether those targeted for removal should resign to preempt their sacking, or fight on.

Those in favour of resignation are said to have argued it would deny their rivals the glory of chest thumping, but the other view was that giving in would be handing their opponents an easy victory.  

“We have a secret weapon to be unveiled at a later date. Just like they are persecuting the DP’s friends, we are aware of their strategy to frustrate him to quit but he will stay put to the end,” said a lawmaker who was present at the meeting.

Yesterday, Ruto’s allies who spoke to The Standard seemed to give away the strategy of a tactical retreat.

Hillary Kosgei (Kipkelion West) questioned the end game in targeting the DP’s allies, but said they would sit and watch as events unfold.

“The government belongs to Uhuru Kenyatta. There is no big deal, let Uhuru have his day and enjoy while it lasts,” Mr Kosgei said.

Conmanship and betrayal

He questioned the gains made so far with the changes effected recently at the Senate after the State House meeting.

“What is the gain once they installed West Pokot Senator Samuel Poghisio (Kanu) as the Majority Leader,” Kosgei asked, referring to the ouster of Mr Murkomen.

“They can do what they want to do and reshuffle and remove everybody allied to the DP.”

Senate Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Chair Samson Cherargei said “it is not over until it is over”.

“What next for Ruto’s allies? We hope the president’s team will compile a list of all those allied to his DP and fire them to save the country this constant charade,” he said.

“What is happening is political conmanship and betrayal after singing ‘Tano Tena’. We are not going to engage in small, petty wars in Parliament. We have a bigger fight in 2022 and need to conserve the energy instead of engaging a few who gather at State House over tea and mandazi to plot people’s downfall.”

The Nandi senator added that State House was a symbol of national unity.

“Those of us who supported the president and his DP’s re-election are being punished more than those who didn’t. It is more lethal and the punishment is very heavy,” he said.

“Kenyans will have the final decision. Uhuru now has no legacy. The best he can do is to respect the term limit and not extend it through a constitutional change.”

Cherargei made reference to the Bible in advising his colleagues targeted for the purge in the National Assembly.

“Mathew 10:28: ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell’. They are targeted not for being incompetent, but prosecuted for being friends with the DP,” the senator claimed.

In Western Kenya, MPs allied to the DP said they would draft a plan to deal with the onslaught from their detractors in the ruling party.

Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa and his Sirisia counterpart John Waluke said the Ruto wing would involve the voter in the battle to take control of the party ahead of the 2022 General Election. They further said leaving the ruling party was not an option for them.

“We are not the type of people to surrender easily. We have learnt every move by our opponents in Jubilee and are now strategising a comeback. We have taken the war away from public pronouncements and Twitter, and retreated to boardrooms,” said Mr Barasa.

“We will soon make a decision on when to strike. Restructuring Jubilee remains our main agenda going forward, and I can tell you that in our war, we are going to involve the common mwananchi, the real owners of the party.”

Mr Waluke said their fight-back strategy would remain their secret weapon for now, adding: “We will not share our plans, even if provoked.”

Jubilee Party Deputy Secretary General Caleb Kositany dared their opponents to try and make changes at the National Assembly, where he said Ruto enjoys overwhelming support from lawmakers.

Mr Kositany claimed that Uhuru took advantage of the small membership of the Senate to manipulate members into effecting changes that saw Murkomen and Ms Kihika lose their posts.

“Silence is a very powerful weapon. They have noticed that we are quiet, but we shall re-emerge. If it is a matter of following the rule of law, we shall have our way in this battle,” said Kositany.