Why claims, acrimony against Ruto may be storm in a teacup

Deputy President William Ruto during a political rally at Uvete, Kilome, Makueni County. [Susan Nyamasege/DPPS]

Sagana III was intended to be epic; Deputy President William Ruto’s Waterloo. It was expected that glaring accusations would be made, with incontrovertible evidence, putting paid to the DP’s bid for presidency. Instead, participants were treated to a soliloquy, short on substance but long on conjecture and innuendo. 

If the meeting had any distinguishing characteristics, it was in the fits of pique that ran its entire course. One suspects that the manufactured outrage against the DP was actuated by other considerations and not the insinuated allegations of corruption or incompetence. 

Take, for instance, the performance of dockets under the supervision of the DP during Jubilee’s first term in office. Some, like the Ministry of Agriculture, have been in the grip of extortionist cartels for decades.

It is, therefore, disingenuous to blame the DP for the failures of this ministry when there are unresolved problems that predate the Jubilee administration itself.

Further, singling him out for blame is nothing short of political chicanery when others are considered. No one talks of the fact that it was under former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s supervision that the Ministry of State for Immigration and Registration of Persons had a record number of ID cards and passports issued to aliens.

It led to the erosion of the prestige of the Kenyan passport and with it, the need for arduously acquired visas for Kenyans visiting countries in the West. 

Little is spoken about loss of the sanctity of title deeds. Again, it is during the same period that the document, previously regarded as irrefutable proof of land ownership, became assailed by duplicates issued fraudulently at various land registries. 

An inconvenient truth is that scams like the Kemsa scandal have been executed during the Handshake period; when the President and former PM called the shots to the exclusion of the DP.

The President himself has said that no less than Sh2 billion is lost to corruption daily. And even as he chokes on his sanctimony, he is yet to reveal the details of the Standard Gauge Railway contract, alleged by some to be inflated for purposes of lining private pockets. Nor has he given the promised comprehensive statement on the Pandora Papers, leaks of secret offshore accounts where his family was mentioned. 

Perhaps it is the differences in handling inexplicable wealth that has led to this present distemper.

One side is parsimonious and frowns on the mavericks of the nouveau riche, preferring to quietly hoard their finances overseas. The other side is given to ostentatious displays, suborning the electorate with handouts that ensures their loyalty. 

Which leads one to the conclusion that current political alignments are based on considerations other than similarities in ideology. For that matter, ideologies, only good on paper, are vacated as soon as whatever pretended amity there is serves its purpose.

For the DP, that purpose was served as soon as the second Jubilee term was in the bag. The accusations, vituperation and acrimony directed his way is a storm in a teacup.  There is nothing personal in the posturing, just politics done the Kenyan way. 

On a related note, Raila knows firsthand the value of political promises. Assured that the PM’s position would be created for him during the Narc administration, he was given the short end of the stick and had to be content with a relatively junior position as Minister for Roads, Public Works and Housing. He should ask himself why, when he is long in the tooth, his former adversary has endorsed him for this year’s presidential contest.

He should be wary of being too dependent on the goodwill and largesse of the Mount Kenya Foundation and plan his campaign in such a way that should they pull the plug, his campaign will still stay the course. He should recall that “Madimoni” struck Musalia Mudavadi from pole position in 2013. Nothing precludes them from striking yet again! 

-The writers is a public policy analyst