Regional
William Ruto, the presidential candidate taking on Kenya’s political dynasties
The
recent party nomination of
deputy president William Samoei Ruto as a presidential candidate sets the stage
for a tight race in Kenya’s elections scheduled for early August.
Ruto,
55, is leader of the United Democratic Alliance party, the newly formed and
largest party in Kenya, under the Kwanza (Kenya First) coalition. His main
rival is Raila Odinga, 77, who will run under
the rival Azimio la Umoja (Unity Declaration) coalition.
Against sustained
pushback by the incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta, Ruto is determined to
succeed him. Kenyatta is instead backing his
former archrival and longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Kenyatta
and Ruto are former allies: Ruto campaigned for Kenyatta during his first
presidential attempt in 2002, which he lost. Both were indicted by the International
Criminal Court (ICC) as the suspected masterminds of the mass atrocities that
followed the disputed 2007 elections. They then teamed
up to contest in 2013. They prevailed in 2017 as well, but not before the
Supreme Court annulled the
first round.
Ruto
has characterised Kenyatta and Odinga as the embodiments of
[dynastic politics] and entitlement.
The two are sons of Jomo Kenyatta and Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first president
and first vice president respectively.
In
contrast, Ruto is of humble
upbringing. He invariably invokes his background in hawking
chicken by the roadside to affirm his appreciation of the dire
circumstances of Kenya’s downtrodden.
As
an outlier in Kenya’s political power matrix, which is dominated by a tiny
clique related by familial and economic ties and adept at manipulating
tribalism, Ruto was elbowed out by the establishment. But he has somersaulted
back by appealing directly to the masses.
Ruto
versus status quo
For
almost six decades, political and economic power has been confined within a
group around Kenya’s first two presidents – Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi. Raila
Odinga joined this group in the sunset years of Moi’s tenure. The group has
leverage over state agencies and the security apparatus. It exploits state
power to advance commercial interests spread across the entire gamut of Kenya’s
economy.
Kenyatta’s
family, for instance, has vast business interests.
The Mois are also fabulously wealthy .
Ruto
is also certainly a
man of means. According to his opponents in the government he too has
extensive business
interests. It’s for this reason that Ruto has been been
accused of hypocricy for championing the downtrodden, or ordinary
Kenyans whom he refers to as “hustlers”.
Pivotal
to Ruto’s campaign is his bottom-up
economic model. Its pillars are the dispersal of economic and political
opportunities, and dignifying the poor. It invokes equity, inclusivity, social
justice and fair play.
His
“hustler movement” has been propelled by mass
unemployment, poverty, inequalities and
state excesses such as extrajudicial
executions.
Ruto
has reinvented himself as the agent of class consciousness hitherto absent in
Kenya’s political discourse and competition. By rebranding himself as the
antithesis of the status quo and personification of the hopes of the poor, his
messaging has resonated with a cross spectrum of the marginalised.
Based
on recent polls, not all credible, he is in pole position with a few months to
go. An insider running as an outsider, Ruto has a realistic chance of winning
in August. If he does, he will have to overhaul Kenya’s socioeconomic and
political edifice to assuage the restless and disenchanted populace. If he
doesn’t, he risks becoming a casualty of his success.
The
making of candidate Ruto
Following
disputed elections in 2017, Kenyatta and his close allies embarked on a
campaign of vilification against Ruto. He was soon edged out of the government
and remained a Kenyatta’s principal assistant in law only. Kenyatta transferred his
official responsibilities as deputy president to a loyal cabinet minister in an
attempt to whittle down the office and clip Ruto’s political wings.
The
aim was to delegitimise and frustrate him into resigning, thus knocking him out
of the succession race.
In
Kenya’s media, including social media, Ruto is the villain; the bogeyman.
Through newspaper headlines, hashtags, prime time news and talk shows, he
is depicted as
the skunk of Kenya’s politics solely associated with vices such as corruption,
land grabs, impunity, unbridled ambition, insolence, warlord politics, and
ethnic cleansing.
These
vices, however, pervade Kenya’s political landscape.
Ruto
cut his political teeth under the mentorship of the long-serving autocrat Daniel
arap Moi in the early 1990s. Facing presidential opponents for the first time
in 1992, Moi mobilised the youth vote with the help of young politicians, under
an outfit known as Youth for KANU ‘92.
Ruto was one of the youthful politicians who crafted the successful – but
equally infamous –
re-election strategy in 1992. This involved Moi sanctioning the printing
of money used to bribe voters, among other things.
Ruto’s
entry into parliament in 1997 was in defiance of his mentor. Moi, a fellow
Kalenjin from the Rift Valley, had tried to prevail on Ruto not to run. Moi
exited in 2002 and Ruto astutely won over the Kalenjin voting bloc and used it
as a launching pad into national politics. Moi had wanted to bequeath it to his
son, Gideon. Hence the fallout between Moi and Ruto.
The
Kenyatta-Moi-Odinga axis, which Ruto has propped up in the past, has turned
against him, fearful that he would end their economic and political stranglehold.
They perceive Ruto – relatively young, astute, ambitious, prescient and gallant
– as a threat to their dubious privileges.
In
2010, Ruto stood out from this coterie and mobilised against the passage of the
current constitution. He recently defended his stand on the grounds that he did
not approve of some parts of the new constitution – but embraced it once it
was passed.
He
faulted Kenyatta for violating the same constitution through blatant defiance
of numerous court orders and weaponising oversight bodies and state agencies.
Ruto also accused Kenyatta and Odinga of a conspiracy to illegally amend the
constitution to consolidate their power through the Building Bridges
Initiative. Though quashed as unconstitutional by the high court and appeals
court, an attempt to revive the initiative is now before the supreme
court.
Political
traction
Ruto
frequently quotes the Bible and attends church services regularly, during which
he donates generously or pledges future funding. These acts of generosity may
endear him to some in the dominant Christian population. But this seemingly
ecclesiastical bent masks a consummate political strategist.
On
the stump, Ruto constantly castigates hoarding of state power and economic
opportunities by an insular elite. He avers that empowering the masses will
enhance social cohesion and reduce political instability.
Despite
the rhetoric, Ruto is a creature of Kenya’s political culture, notorious for a
lack of scruples. Its elite is anglophile in outlook, and disdainful
of the poor. It is also mired in impunity
and tribalism.
Ruto’s
political legitimacy, like that of Kenyatta and Odinga, is derived from visceral
tribalism. His is constantly campaigning in Kikuyu regions, like Odinga and
Kenyatta.
What
is significant is that Ruto’s reframing of the political discourse into hustlers
versus dynasties has accorded him traction and set the tempo of this
election despite the government’s abysmal scorecard. He has made this election
about the rule of law, constitutionalism, equalisation of economic
opportunities and competitive plural politics.
This
contrasts with Odinga, who has publicly defined himself
as the status quo candidate, an extension of Kenyatta tenure and therefore out
to preserve the exclusive political and economic arrangement that dates to
colonialism.
The
stakes are high for Kenyans. A Ruto victory could end the dynastic dominance of
Kenya’s politics and economy. Peripheral actors could rise. As to whether Ruto
would prise open the economy for the benefit of all, that remains an open
question.
Source:
https://theconversation.com/