A nation navigating on autopilot as Ruto tours around this wide world

Nairobians along Jogoo Road walk to work due to public transport crisis.[Stafford Ondego, Stafford]

There was jubilation in my household when the matatu strike was announced on Sunday, mainly from the youngest man, because classes migrated online. I instantly understood the reason for his excitement: He took some of his classes doing gymnastics like standing on his head, or snacking.

It’s not that his school had more intel than the rest of us; their commutes detoured through Kitengela township in Kajiado, which I understand is the new Kondole, the Kisumu neighbourhood that served as a barometer of the national political temperatures.

There are many theories about the transformation of Kitengela into a hotbed of national protests. Barring lazy claims of rented crowds that are organised by the usual suspects, I venture there are specific conditions that make Kite, as it’s fondly known to its dwellers, make it ideal for street protests.

First off, its unplanned character means the township is what realtors call “mixed-use” developments, integrating business premises with living quarters. This means, unless one is very foolish, and our police officers occasionally do act foolishly, such as firing rounds into crowds or dispensing teargas canisters in the air, utmost restraint is required or risk injuring many.

The other reason for Kite’s “suitability” as a site of struggle is an unintended consequence of the greed of the now-defunct Olkejuado County Council. Apparently, some chaps sold all public spaces reserved for amenities like markets and bus termini within the county.

Put simply, there is no room for reorganisation of the township. There are no alternative routes to bypass the township; one has to filter through the tight funnel managed by the “stone democrats” during protests, before they melt into the residential neighbourhoods in their backyard. These are proper urban guerrillas.

When you throw unemployment into the mix, enormous numbers can be mobilised at the blink of an eye. It’s what some more intelligent folks call a “perfect” storm.

This brings us to the raging storm over the price of petroleum products, which has been defused temporarily, after an assemblage of “stakeholders” met with government technocrats to haggle about price reduction.

And since Kenyans have learnt “G-to-G” means “Government to Gangsters,” a variety of stakeholders in the oil sector have emerged. I think there is room to include one representing mkokoteni users, as their spokes are oiled using grease. We could even include labourers who utilise used engine oil in treating poles against termites.

Indeed, the whole lot of Kenyans should be sitting at the negotiating table because we are inadvertent consumers of air with higher than permissible levels of sulphur, among other impurities.

The reason for this proposition is that, judging from videos that have been circulating online, as government “technocrats” put their heads together, I initially thought this was a bar scene with patrons deliberating Arsenal FC’s historic win, only to hear it was our nation’s future being determined by folks who sounded like common thugs.

“Look, we have 5 Bee, and if it’s used up, and Trump is threatening to bomb Iran again…” some chap who sounded suddenly very clever opined.

That’s statecraft under Kenya Kwanza. I understand the nation has been on autopilot mode, which is how Prezzo Bill Ruto set it when he embarked on his trips to Central Asia.

I won’t ask how many of you can place Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan on the map, or even name their capital cities. That’s not important. What matters is that they honoured Prezzo Ruto with State visits at a time he badly needed a break.

As for those who’ve been chanting “Ruto Must Go,” I think he’s helped illustrate that, indeed, the nation can and will run with or without him, and emerging crises can be dealt with on a rolling basis until he returns.