William Ruto's political chess game of mentoring key young leaders

From left; Majority leader Kimani Ichung'wah, Budget Appropriation Committee Chair Ndindi Nyoro, Majority Chief Whip Silvanus Osoro and  Finance Committee Chair Kimani Kuria at Parliament Buildings, June 15, 2023. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

President William Ruto and his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua have embarked on mentoring young leaders in various regions unlike in the past when political kingpins never prodded up potential successors. 

The two have separately announced that they are ready and willing to provide mentorship to a new crop of leaders to prepare them for national leadership who will steer the country forward.

On September 9, during the thanksgiving ceremony of Energy Principal Secretary Alex Wachira, Ruto said he will mentor Wachira alongside other young leaders so that in future, the country can have better leaders.

“I like assisting other leaders because in the leadership of our country, we shall be happier if we get better leaders than us and that is how we shall have a better country,” he said.

Among leaders who say they owe their current status to Ruto and Gachagua include National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah (Kikuyu MP), Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, Senators John Methu (Nyandarua) and Karugo Thangwa (Kiambu) and Kirinyaga Woman Rep Njeri Maina. 

The youthful leaders have been vocal in Mt Kenya region and have been driving the key messages Ruto and Gachagua want to pass to the electorate.

Nyoro, in a past interview, explained how the President became his mentor when it proved difficult for him to reach out to former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

According to Nyoro, who is touted to be among members of the President’s kitchen cabinet, his relationship with him started when he was seeking for a top position in a National Assembly committee and needed Uhuru’s influence or his handlers.

He said he tried in vain to reach out to Uhuru and his handlers who included Jubilee Party Vice Chairperson David Murathe and Deputy Chief of Staff Njee Muturi. 

“By then, I did not know Dr Ruto, then Deputy President, and we had not met, but I decided to try and send him a text message and he called immediately,” he said.

Although he did not get what he wanted, he got a mentor out of it and their friendship with Dr Ruto started.

“I needed a mentor to guide me. I could not read about Uhuru in books to learn politics, mentorship happens by being practical and Dr Ruto was the man,” he said.

Ruto is also on record saying under their leadership, they will continue mentoring young leaders to avert a political vacuum in the country, citing the situation in the former regime where he accused Uhuru of failing to mold young leaders.

“We as a region have had a problem because there was no one who mentored the young. Some of us have come into these positions because nature abhors a vacuum and not because there was a deliberate effort to create clear succession plans in leadership,” he stated.

Methu is among the young leaders who have been accompanying Gachagua in his early morning trek and says he is a beneficiary of the leaders’ mentorship

“We are happy that the Deputy President has found it in his heart to mentor us. He is like a parent to us and we appreciate that he has taken time to teach us the ways of our people and critical traits in leadership such as humility and servant leadership.”

On his part, Thangwa said the DP had set an example worth emulating for young elected leaders.

“He has shown us the way. This is the first time that this country is having leaders who are thinking about the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.

Youth involvement in key levels of governance and enterprise was one of Kenya Kwanza's key pledges.

“The President and I have agreed on the need to mentor the present crop of young political leaders and have a good succession plan for the country’s leadership,” Gachagua said. “We are here because it is the president who has mentored us. I want to do my bit to mentor the young leaders,” added the DP.

Other leaders who said they are beneficiaries of their mentorship include East African Legislative Assembly Maina Karobia and Mathira MP Eric Wamumbi.

“The two leaders played a significant part in my nomination and prior to that they have mentored me for five years where I worked under their close supervision,” Karobia, who was among the youthful leaders in Kenya Kwanza’s frontline campaign, said.

He said that fully aware that the success of any leadership is in mentorship of the youth into better leaders, the country's top leadership has decided to walk together with the youthful leaders.

“You can’t learn about leadership in class. Much of it is learnt practically through observation and mentorship and that is why the two leaders closely guide us into leadership positions,” Karobia said.

Wamumbi was Konyu MCA before the Deputy President picked him to replace him after he was nominated as Dr Ruto’s running mate.

He said the two leaders have shown that the youth are leaders of today and not tomorrow as has always been the case in the recent future.

“I take pride in the leadership of the country for holding my hand, before they rose to power, the only meaningful assignment to the youth was to consolidate votes and to the worst used in causing chaos and violence but the two have departed from that to holding and supporting us into becoming leaders,” he said.

 Ms Maina said young leaders have the passion but lack the political experience to navigate the system noting that there can only be benefits from the inter-generational exchange. 

"To be able to learn and have a close mentorship relationship with the top leadership is not something I take for granted. If we want to foster a future that is great, it is imperative that we have intentional coaching and mentorship of young leaders," said Maina. 

In the Rift Valley, the President, in a strategy that has been interpreted as holding the grip of his backyard, has trusted his youth allies with key responsibilities such as Kipchumba Murkomen who has been entrusted with the Transport and Infrastructure docket and who is seen as the President’s point man.

Pundits believe, Dr Ruto’s move seeks to ensure that unlike his predecessor who was accused of failing to tighten the grip of his region, by picking the youth, the President will not face rebellion which would be propagated by the youthful leaders for his absence in the political scene.

“By being close to the young leaders and picking them to drive their agenda, the President and his Deputy ensures that there is no gap and vacuum which could be felt by the youthful leaders and pass on resentment to the electorate,” Charles Njoroge, a political analyst said.

In Nyanza, Ruto has picked a youthful Raymond Omollo as Interior Principal Secretary, an influential docket, in what is seen as a strategy to position the President for post-Raila Odinga politics.