Is Ruto being held captive by allies in government?

President William Ruto addresses residents after the launch of the Sogoo-Melelo-Ololung’a Road on the second day of his tour of Narok County, May 7, 2025.  [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

President William Ruto has repeatedly reminded Kenyans that he is firmly in charge of his government.

Two months ago, the Head of State reminded his critics that he was not a mad man and that his cognitive abilities were top-notch.

During the Gen Z-led protests last year, Ruto said he was fully in charge and that the challenges he faced were not a setback to his administration since he would be guided by lessons to make the country a better place.

“I am fully in charge, I am stronger, I assure Kenyans that I will have a very effective Cabinet to serve Kenyans. I will have a government of national unity, pray for me, my government is committed to moving Kenya forward,” said Ruto.

But activists and political analysts believe otherwise, arguing that the President may have allowed his trusted allies to wield so much power that they have gone rogue, operating and issuing direct orders to police officers and using goons to advance their interests.

Prof Gitile Naituli from Multimedia University of Kenya maintains that President Ruto has let his friends call the shots and dented his image in the eyes of Kenyans.

“The President’s allies seem to be running the show and the President appears to be helpless. In the case of the death of Albert Ojwang, he left Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat to decide on his own when to step down to pave way for the investigation. His directives were nowhere to be seen and Kenyans felt exposed,” noted Naituli.

When President William Ruto received the credentials of six new envoys to Kenya at State House, Nairobi, on June 4, 2025. [PCS]

He said the President should borrow a leaf from the third President Mwai Kibaki, who at one time, closed his eyes on his friends and focused on technocrats to build a better Kenya.

Naituli opined that while Kibaki’s actions were perceived by some as a betrayal of political promises and agreements made while looking for votes, his decisions were aimed at looking out for people who would not feel entitled to the administration.

“Sometimes it is not possible to lord over your friends and allies who work under you. Ruto has a personal history with the people who now work as his juniors who don’t see him as the Head of State but as their friend, which would be a recipe of chaos,” Naituli added.

Dr Kamau Wairuri, a policy researcher, said the President had become a slave of his own words when he described former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration as a ‘mongrel type of government’ because of his dalliance with ODM leader Raila Odinga.

“He claimed Uhuru was a squatter in his own government, which sought to mean that he had donated his powers to his handshake brother Raila Odinga, but Ruto is in the very position he explained then. He is held hostage by ODM, who have been issuing demands every time they feel something was not going their way,” Dr Wairuri noted.

He was referring to several incidents where ODM leaders have threatened to ditch the broad-based government following the deaths of blogger Albert Ojwang and Kasipul MP Charles Were and other incidents where Raila has contradicted the government's position.

“When Ruto’s trusted allies are failing him and exposing him to the wrath of Kenyans because of issues such as the police brutality and showing opulence, which is akin to vomiting on Kenyans. The ODM, which produced ‘experts’ to help him run the government, are always on his neck whenever aggrieved and this poses serious concerns on whether he is in control of his administration,” said Wairuri.

 While dismissing his Cabinet last year, Ruto said his ministers would have ‘done better’ a move that meant they were to blame for the trust deficit that the government faced from Kenyans.

He repeated the same remarks during the signing of performance contracts of his Cabinet at State House on August 1, 2023, where he claimed that some of his Cabinet members were clueless about what they were doing.

“I call many PSs and ask them what is going on here and they have no clue and this is your department; that is the job that you have. You are not a messenger, you are not a security person, you are not a photographer, you are not a watchman,” he said.