Deputy President William Ruto is casting a wide net for 2022 and not necessarily relying on support from President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Mt Kenya backyard.
Ruto is making forays into other strategic regions to build a formidable force as key Central Kenya leaders renege on a promise to back him for the country’s top job.
Sources said the DP, an astute and indefatigable politician, is keen to have both ANC Leader Musalia Mudavadi and his Wiper counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka on his side.
With the populous Kamba and Luhya communities, the DP’s political advisers believe, he will have a fighting chance with or without the Mt Kenya vote bloc.
There are already reports that the DP has secured a deal with Kalonzo but the former Vice President has denied the claims.
Yesterday, Soi MP Caleb Kositany, a key Ruto ally, said the DP was reaching out to leaders with similar goals to build a “political behemoth” for the 2022 polls.
He said the Deputy President will continue to talk to politicians countrywide without any biases.
“The Deputy President is ready and willing to work with leaders from across the country, not just Kalonzo or Musalia. We believe in working with other like-minded leaders,” he said.
Uhuru who had pledged to back Ruto for the presidency has lately changed his tune, saying only God knows who will be President.
Close associates of the President, including public servants working in the presidency, are among those accused of trying to scuttle Ruto’s 2022 chances.
“The DP is a political genius. Those who think that without the Mt Kenya vote he is finished would be surprised,” a senior Jubilee leader told the Star.
Ruto has defied President Kenyatta’s repeated warnings against early campaigns and heightened his countrywide tours.
He has been holding harambees for women, youth groups and churches.
There are indications that some Mt Kenya leaders opposed to Ruto, including some Cabinet Secretaries, are plotting against him in the region.
This has left others, including Ruto’s key point man, Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri, isolated in the president’s backyard.
Reports that Uhuru and Raila could be using the BBI push to prop up powerful Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i as a compromise candidate have jolted the Ruto camp.
The DP has said he was ready to enter into a working relationship with Kalonzo and Mudavadito capture State House.
With a firm Uhuru-Raila alliance said to be in the offing, Ruto is said to be keen to capture the two regional bigwigs to build juggernaut his close aides believe would annihilate any such a pact.
Political analyst Javas Bigambo said the DP was working on a game plan extending far beyond Uhuru’s support bases.
“The DP knows that he cannot assume Mt Kenya will naturally support him. That is why he is keen on being his own man,” Bigambo said.
He said concerns that Mt Kenya might abandon him have forced the DP into a frenetic campaign within the region to secure his own diehards.
“That is why he is combing and marshalling Mt Kenya for his own trusted supporters without banking on Uhuru. He wants to be his own man in Mt Kenya with backers who pledge allegiance to him,” he said.
Outspoken former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama, an influential Wiper figure, last week let the cat off the bag when he claimed a Ruto-Kalonzo alliance would be the formation to beat in 2022.
“Our (Kamba’s) political chapter with ODM leader Raila Odinga is closed. We will negotiate with Ruto, Musalia (Musalia) and Moses (Wetang’ula),” Muthama said.
Kalonzo termed those claims “malicious”.
“They are a desperate attempt to drive a wedge between me and the President… Remarks by individuals should not be attributed to me,” Kalonzo said.
It is not lost on observers that Muthama has previously forced Kalonzo into political marriages, including the 2013 Raila-Kalonzo pact, under the Cord ticket.
Kalonzo then had likewise denied any possibility of working with Raila, despite Muthama’s pronouncements.
Yesterday, Machakos Town MP Victor Munyaka said the Kamba nation stands to benefit if it works with Ruto.
“We have told our people, ‘Let us join hands and work together with the Deputy President because he is the clear frontrunner.’ As a community, our interests will be safeguarded in the Ruto team,” he said.
Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka said the Kamba nation is yearning when leaders will set aside personal interests and rally the region to form the next government.
“The Kamba people must be in the next government. We are aware who will form the next government and do not want to be left out,” he said.
University of Nairobi lecturer Herman Manyora said Ruto is aware that getting Mt Kenya’s support is not a guarantee and he must work with other leaders from elsewhere.
“The DP cannot bank on 100 per cent Mt Kenya’s support unless he is a fool. He is certainly looking elsewhere, knowing that he may get Mt Kenya votes or not,” he said.
The analyst said even as Ruto woos other regions, he must be cautious such a move doesn’t erode his gains in Mt Kenya.
“He must be aware of what he loses, for instance, when he gets Kalonzo and Musalia to his side,” he said.
United States International University professor Macharia Munene said the DP has made tremendous inroads in Mt Kenya with a lot of “genuine followers”, even more than the President himself.
“Ruto’s support in Mt Kenya is steadily growing and is actually genuine. When he is reaching out to other political bigwigs, that is normal,” he said.
In September, ANC boss Mudavadi told off Ruto over his overtures for a 2022 pact. He said an alliance with Ruto cannot sell.
“Ruto’s proposition is cheeky and ridiculous. No serious Kenyan can buy into that gimmick,” the Amani leader said.
Ruto had told Mudavadi, during a funds drive in his Sabatia backyard, that he did not mind forming the next government together with him.
“I am calling on Mudavadi to join this team (Ruto’s Jubilee wing) so we can form the government,” Ruto told Mudavadi.
Ruto has intensified forays to Mudavadi’s Western backyard to turn the tables against Raila as the big battle takes shape.