If there were no William Ruto, would there be a Building Bridges Initiative (BBI)? If the Deputy President had chosen to pursue wheat farming in Uasin Gishu, or if he were a quiet shopkeeper at the Sugoi trading centre, would we be considering a constitutional amendment? The answer is a resounding yes. We definitely would. And here is why.
Kenya would still have the same kind of political tensions we are experiencing now. We have practised the politics of hostility for so long that we do not know how politics without hate looks like. Three things define our current state of political antagonism. The first is a Polarising Theory. In the absence of Ruto, there would be other presidential candidates who would create a dominant ‘Us versus Them’ narrative.