Deputy President William Ruto’s hard hitting remarks targeting persons he believes are behind his woes in Jubilee has left many tongues wagging on what is his next move.
In an interview with the Star on Thursday night, the DP gave the strongest signal he is about to quit the party he formed with President Uhuru Kenyatta ahead of the 2017 polls.
Despite his remarks that he believes there is a chance to sort out issues in Jubilee “as it would be tragic to lose the party”, Ruto appears to be on his way out.
He painted Jubilee as an entity under the chokehold of “busybodies, conmen and brokers with no clue of their (with President Kenyatta) philosophy.”
“It would be tragic if we were to lose Jubilee. If the party is eventually hijacked by the brokers, we will make the decision at that point,” Ruto said.
The DP said the men he was referring to are so powerful that “their word has become the party position”, exposing the level to which his political battles have metamorphosised.
“When the President disagreed with Kanu, he formed TNA and when I was done with ODM, I formed URP. In politics, there are always options and I will employ them at the right time,” Ruto said by phone.
The Deputy President said he went out of his way to help President Uhuru Kenyatta form a national political party as a way to get rid of “ethnicity, marginalisation and [to] entrench gender balance”.
“The party has been hijacked by brokers who are running it through fear. Their word is the party position. The same virus that infected KANU and killed it after the 2002 elections has come to Jubilee,” Ruto said.
He has been at loggerheads with Jubilee stalwarts since vice-chairman David Murathe declared that he (DP) would not be the party’s presidential candidate.
The vocal Mt Kenya politician has thrown a Raila Odinga wild card in the political circles, saying the ODM leader is best suited to succeed Uhuru in 2022.
In Ruto’s words, there are many options and he would “employ them at the right time”.
Many a time his troops have said there is no cause for the alarm even if the DP exits and by extension lose the support of the establishment.
“He is an institution himself. He is the face of the hustler nation. He is the face of tenacity and resilience within the Kenyan nation,” ally Samson Cherargei, who is the Nandi senator, once said.
Ruto’s latest candid remarks – some believed to be a show of defiance of his boss – have elicited the question of what would be his options after quitting President Kenyatta’s camp.
Will he resign from government and stand alone? Who will be his new allies? Can he muscle a fanatical following and resources to give his detractors a run for their money in the presidential race?
Image: DPPS
His right-hand man Caleb Kositany says they are not going to quit Jubilee but “will stay and fight for their rightful place in the party”.
According to the Soy MP, “our options are political. One thing we can assure the ‘deep state’ is that we have God and the people whom we will move with wherever we go. As the DP said yesterday, we are not going to run away from a problem; we are going to solve it”.
Kositany said Murathe and secretary general Raphael Tuju are the ones who have taken the party hostage.
Political observers across the board believe the DP is just buying time as he now has no option but to jump ship if he is still keen on the presidential race.
They hold that Jubilee is no longer tenable for his presidential ambitions and as such he has to either form a party or join one which shares his interests.
Maseno University lecturer Charles Nyambuga said the DP has no option but to jump ship since Jubilee has become ‘twisted’.
“If he still has presidential ambitions, there is no way he can continue being in Jubilee. Definitely, the party will not sustain those presidential ambitions,” the don said.
Nyambuga argued that the DP “certainly has a plan B as he is not a fool to just sit and wait for the mandate to be put on his platter. He has another option.”
Political analyst Martin Andati weighed in, saying the DP is clearly indicating he is exiting and has started preparing the ground.
He believes Ruto will oppose the BBI, hence face off with Raila and Uhuru.
“Raila and Uhuru will be on one side and he’ll be on the other. He is trying to do what Raila was trying, only that they have reversed roles.”
Andati told the Star: “The DP is using his manoeuvres as a trial balloon to see how people react and build momentum.”
On whether Ruto has the muscle, money and masses behind him, the analyst said the DP might not have the fanatical support that Raila has enjoyed over the years but he would benefit a great deal from Mt Kenya disillusionment with Uhuru.
“He is trying to build on that. He’ll be benefiting from a protest. Indeed, the mood is bad and it is not going to be easy for the Handshake side,” Andati said.
He cautioned the Handshake brigade “they can easily lose the referendum if they are not careful.”
His point of view stems from a feeling that some of the critical issues informing the Building Bridges Initiative push are largely seen as not of benefit to the masses.
Among the propositions in the much anticipated BBI report include an expanded executive structure and increasing county revenue sharing base to 35 per cent.
For the experts, timing is crucial for the DP, projecting he may only bolt out at a time it will be difficult for the state to “clip his wings.”
The broader view is that he will hang on and since he can’t be fired, he will continue using the trappings of his office to campaign and build the momentum.
Some quarters also intimated that Ruto’s lieutenants are moving around collecting signatures, ostensibly to register a party.