How Ruto is focusing on building political capital

President William Ruto during celebrations to mark the UN International Day for minorities at State House, Nairobi, on December 18, 2025. [PCS]

President William Ruto is using every available platform, from cultural festivals to State House meetings, and now by inviting thousands of people from minority communities, to bolster his bid for re-election in 2027 through dishing out of goodies.

He is also using these platforms to sell his political agenda, while attacking opposition leaders and portraying them as clueless and lacking a development plan for the country.

In three weeks, the President has attended the Maa Cultural Festival held in Maralal, Samburu County; Tobong’u Lore in Turkana; and Piny Luo in Migori, before hosting representatives of minority communities at State House in Nairobi last evening.

At the gathering, Ruto read out a long list of initiatives he said he intended to undertake for minority communities, before pausing to make the “Harambee” rallying call. The crowd responded in unison with “two term”, a reference to his re-election bid in 2027.

It remains unclear how travel and accommodation for thousands of people from minority communities, some from as far afield as Moyale, Lamu and Turkana, were facilitated, although sources said the costs were fully covered by State House.

At the cultural festivals and other public functions he has attended, the President has promised a range of large-scale development projects and other incentives, while keeping one eye firmly on the fast-approaching 2027 elections.

To maximise publicity, State House also spent millions of shillings on live coverage by three television stations with nationwide reach.

The President promised to release hundreds of millions of shillings for infrastructure funding in areas inhabited by vulnerable communities. Critics, however, argue that the funds were not included in the national budget.

“Those promises are more like his frequently made roadside declarations because that money was not included in the budget making process. Where is he going to raise it from?” asks political analyst Martin Andati.

Andati added that the President appears keen to attend as many cultural events as possible in order to project an image of belonging to these communities, with the aim of harvesting political capital.

On Thursday, Ruto promised to release Sh200 million annually to improve education infrastructure in Maa, Turkana, Samburu, Somali, Ndorobo, Pokomo, Kuria, Yaaku, Borana, Dasenach, Pare, Nubi, Awer, Shona and Wata-speaking areas, among many others represented at State House.

Although Ruto officially handed over 1,080 affordable housing units in Mukuru Kwa Reuben in May this year, he returned to the area on yesterday evening to hand over more units, seemingly to demonstrate that the affordable housing programme is progressing.

“Some people never believed in what we are doing. We will change this country. This evening I will be handing over 5,000 houses in Mukuru. Somebody who was living in the slums will move into a house with everything, including a toilet, on the fourteenth floor,” said Ruto.

The controversial affordable housing programme is funded through deductions from civil servants’ payslips. Contributors have long argued that it is punitive, given that they also pay other taxes, leaving them with meagre earnings. 

To deliver on multiple infrastructure projects, including electricity and dam construction, the President has initiated a Sh5 trillion infrastructure programme, which includes the Sh1.5 trillion National Infrastructure Fund. This is to be financed through proceeds from the sale of State assets, such as government shares in Safaricom.

Four individuals have temporarily halted the process through a court filing, arguing that the fund was illegally created through an executive fiat on December 15, 2025, without parliamentary approval.

More goodies

The President also accused the opposition of spreading politics of malice, hate, negative ethnicity and divisive rhetoric. He further claimed that, without borrowing a penny, the government had managed to construct the Talanta Stadium and the Bomas Conference Centre, which he said would be the largest in East and Central Africa.

Before attending the Maa festival last month, Ruto handed over the management of Amboseli National Park to Kajiado County. At the cultural festival organised by Narok, Kajiado and Samburu counties through the Maa Economic Bloc, the focus extended beyond promoting cultural heritage and tourism, with the 2027 presidential election featuring prominently.

A similar pattern emerged at Tobong’u Lore, where President Ruto unveiled what he described as a Sh20 billion development plan for Turkana, a move political analysts interpreted as an effort to secure political support in the region.

In response, local leaders competed to shower praise on the President and pledged unwavering support for his re-election bid.

The end-of-year Piny Luo gathering brings together people from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the wider region, and is marked by Luo cultural exhibitions, traditional sports and rituals.

Although packaged as a platform to preserve heritage and promote cultural tourism, politics took centre stage, with the President urging ODM party leader Oburu Odinga to strengthen the party, just as he was doing with UDA.

Politics, observers note, is about optics and perception. The crowning of President Ruto as a Luo elder at Thimlich Ohinga was therefore not merely symbolic but carried significant political connotations.

Ruto has been courting former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s political base since last year. He recently attended ODM’s 20th anniversary celebrations in Mombasa, where he cautioned rebels within the party.

“I will not allow anyone to split or destroy ODM,” Ruto said at a function he had been invited to attend as a founding member of the party.

Ruto appears to be performing a delicate balancing act, allowing ODM leaders such as Oburu , the party leader, and Gladys Wanga, the chairperson, to run the show as he pulls strings behind the scenes.

Some party members currently serving in the Cabinet maintain that the partnership bwtween ODM and UDA will extend to 2032 and beyond.Oburu has also inadvertently suggested that the deal could go beyond 2027, having demanded the deputy president’s slot as an irreducible minimum.

ODM, however, is grappling with internal challenges and may not be as strong in 2027 as it was in 2022, amid resistance from younger leaders opposed to Ruto’s overreach and overt control of the party. 

The party has appealed to young people in Luo Nyanza to register as voters in large numbers. Some observers fear it may lose momentum following Raila Odinga’s death.

The former opposition leader’s daughter, Winnie Odinga, has also become increasingly vocal, insisting that the party will field a presidential candidate in 2027.