Karma comes calling, fuelling a crisis Ruto can't easily surmount

 

President Ruto addresses Keumbu residents in Nyaribari Chache, Kisii County. [Sammy Omingo, Standard]

Where to start, good people? Where I come from, when we say one has issues, but it’s not the lack of clothing, it means troubles of gargantuan proportions. And that’s precisely what Prezzo Bill Ruto is going through.

He stepped out in a checked yellow shirt, which reminded me of those leotard designs of yore; he was still on top of his SUV, guzzling fuel that Kenyans can ill afford, delivering a speech that was so laboured it came in phlegmic spurts.

“We have managed. To moderate. Prices. I am announcing today. In the middle of people here. That's the fuel prices. That have. Gone Up. We have stepped in. As Government…”

Prezzo Ruto now runs his government on wheels, just as he did for the last four years as Prezzo Uhuru Kenyatta’s deputy, campaigning. I have no idea why he was addressing the Gusii masses in English.

And from this lofty perch, he explained the abracadabra that he was performing to bring the costs of fuel down, giving with the left hand and taking with the right. He regained his footing soon after, doing what he does best: Taking a swing at his detractors by claiming their lack of akili.

“Mnasema tuendelee tusiendelee jameni?” This was a risky, if vague leitmotif that invited the audience to affirm if he should proceed with his diatribe, which still came in truncated speech. “Kuna wengine. Wanasema ya kwamba ati kwa sababu bei ya mafuta imeongezeka. Na imeongezeka duniani kote. Wataka kufanya maandamano hapa Kenya. Mimi nawauliza: “Tukifanya maandamano bei ya mafuta itakuja chini?”

There was a gaggle of responses, not audible enough, as he castigated opposition leaders for threatening to take to the streets to protest the rising cost of living.

“Si lazima tutumie akili kupunguza gharama ya mafuta…?” It meant we had to apply our heads to lower the costs, but his erstwhile deputy Rigathi Gachagua, aka Riggy G, claimed Prezzo Ruto was applying too much akili to line his own pocket with cash from the oil sales.

Since his impeachment 1.5 years ago, Riggy G now has a full-time job reminding the world how corrupt his former boss is, and chronicling his alleged malfeasance going back years. This week, he referenced the 2009 maize scandal when similar abracadabra was performed so that maize imports were passed on to “briefcase” millers, worsening food insecurity. Prezzo Ruto, then the Agriculture minister, was fired by Raila Odinga, then serving as Prime Minister. “You truly can’t change the character of a man,” Riggy G concluded.

He then chronicled ways in which the vaunted G-to-G mechanism introduced in 2023 is all but a special-purpose vehicle used by Prezzo Ruto and his cronies to milk the country dry.

I have no reason to doubt Riggy G, especially since it mirrors Prezzo Ruto’s own assessment, three years ago, about the cartels that dominate the oil business. We’ll quote his thoughts here, verbatim.

“The people telling us about Ukraine and Russia are also telling us that there’s no shortage of fuel. They are also trying to blame oil marketers, so they are even conflicted (sic) in the reasons why we have an artificial crisis in the country. From their own statement, they are not sure of what to say. Is it because of the war in Ukraine, or is it because of the crisis with our oil marketers? Which is which?

“And that goes to tell you that this crisis is orchestrated, and it’s a result of the cartels and barons who have taken over using conflict of interest and state capture in our economy. I mean, a straight answer would be how come that fuel in Uganda is cheaper than fuel in Kenya? So, the fuel in Uganda goes through Kenya. That tells you that kind of explanation is escapist and has no basis whatsoever. We should address ourselves to the crisis that is there and the monopolies that have taken our fuel and economic sector captive.”