Ken Osinde, the soft-spoken Ruto loyalist who wielded ‘real’ power

Ken Osinde, the late Chief of Staff in the office of Deputy President William Ruto was set to undertake what would perhaps have been the most challenging task in his career–one that his curricular vitae shows he was well equipped to handle.

But as fate would have it, the former ambassador would meet his death on December 10, at Nairobi Hospital.

Working as a chief problem solver and mediator within Ruto’s staff, Osinde was instrumental in ensuring the DP’s busy schedule ran smoothly, diffused any conflicts and hiccups.

Described by the DP as a “diligent, broad thinker and master of human resource,” his service during his five-year tenure that was cut short by the cruel hand of death will leave an indelible mark for all those who worked with him. “We will miss his wise counsel and team spirit,” Ruto said.

However, to scale the career ladder and work as the DP’s confidant, Osinde built the foundation many years back when he held different positions in the Public Service and later in the private sector.

His passion was in languages, evident in his 1988 Masters thesis that analysed how the Gusii pronounce consonance in their mother tongue.

During his many years in academia as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi, teaching Linguistics and African Languages, he pioneered research and published some of his works in Sheng.

He later took up the post of manager at the National Bank of Kenya, where he rose to head the Strategic Planning Group. Osinde also served as Kenya College of Insurance Principal and was a board member at Sanlam Insurance.

In April 2010, he was appointed Kenya’s ambassador to Germany, where he took part in the inauguration of the first direct flights from Mombasa to Berlin by Air Berlin.

On October 25, 2016, he began his first day working for the DP, a position he has executed perfectly and with passion according to his colleagues. Even though Osinde kept a low profile, his power was felt when his boss was under assumed attack this year from politicians and senior government officers.

In February 2020, he asked the Inspector General of Police to investigate staff at DP Ruto’s office at Harambee House Annex over an incident that saw the former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa access the premises to discuss a fake Sh39 billion arms tender deal.

When Ruto’s elite General Service Unit (GSU) unit was withdrawn and replaced with the Administration Police that guard government buildings in August this year, Osinde protested the move in a letter to the Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai.

“We expect you to act lawfully, independently and in good faith as per your oath of office and resist the temptation to play the politics of the day,” he wrote. Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i described Osinde as an illustrious administrator.