Mt Kenya felt scorned by Uhuru Kenyatta's regime, will Ruto satisfy them?

President Uhuru Kenyatta leaves after inspecting a guard of honour mounted by the military personnel during his grand send-off farewell by KDF at the Ulinzi Sports Complex in Langata on September 9, 2022. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

The swearing-in of President William Ruto and his energetic Deputy, now christened "Riggy G" was a proud moment for Kenya.

From the ashes of 2007, a new dawn rose in 2010 with the new Constitution. Few would however have imagined that a presidential election fought so vigorously would end without a whiff of violence.

What was astounding, was the closeness of the result; the difference between the two top candidates was a mere 200,000 votes. Even more astounding, Dr Ruto had triumphed against one of Kenya's strongest politicians, former PM Raila Odinga deputised by a darling of civil society, Martha Karua.

The Azimio team was one of our broadest alliances of traditional Kenyan politicians. The triumph was also against a government "deep state" machinery led by no less than the sitting President, oiled by boisterous state bureaucrats, unmatched state resources and private funds from "big money".

Despite all this, the former "chicken seller" won the race and to cap it all, the Supreme Court affirmed it unanimously. While I cannot speak for the rest of the country, I have spent some time in Mount Kenya villages trying to understand why they rejected the advice of their previously beloved "Kamwana" and moved "West" with such unbridled enthusiasm. I have been made to understand that what on the face of it appears to be an electoral decision with deeper undertones. In the first place, Central Kenya's "Wanjiku" was in anti-establishment rebellion, reacting against what they felt was age old neglect by their leaders.

Many of these concerns went beyond the current political season to post-independence "home-guard" slights. To many mountaineers, their priorities had been neglected by their top leadership who had assumed an entitlement posture.

Basic issues like ban on so called "counterfeit goods" had been dismissed in elite fashion, allowing no moment for transition, or providing alternate means of livelihood for struggling youth.

Local business elite in the mountain had been impoverished through issuance of government contracts to big business without the Kibaki era focus on creating divisible sub-contracts that locals could manage.

The failure to release money to county governments had resulted in billions of unpaid bills to local contractors who had seen their fortunes fall in an era in which they had myriad expectations. Milk, tea and coffee had been neglected until the waning days of the Jubilee administration. Critically their leaders, particularly the President, had stayed away, dispatching disrespectful minnows to sell a "you should be so happy with the roads" gospel that was contemptuous and out of touch.

There was a general feeling that the President had taken his voters for granted expecting them to follow his direction as unthinking robots. He never bothered to explain his fallout with Dr Ruto who he had introduced to the mountain as a brother and who had been promised "kumi yako" in their hearing.

Neither had he bothered to explain the shift to Odinga who he had rubbished for years. The sustained assault on new and emerging leaders whose mistake was seen by the people as merely not supporting the" system" incensed people further.

When Dr Ruto won, the celebration in Mt Kenya was instantaneous. They felt their vote mattered, and that they had made a statement that would speak to leaders, including the ones just installed, on the need to respect the people's dignity, their poverty notwithstanding.

Interestingly, the expectations of majority Wanjiku is not for special favours but for respect and consideration of their welfare as joint citizens with others of the great Republic. Will they be disappointed? No doubt many will be. That is the nature of governing. But for a moment, they felt in charge of their destiny. And that matters.