Deputy President William Ruto is among the politicians who have dominated the headlines in 2020.
From talk that he has been sidelined by his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, to his initial opposition to the constitutional amendments under the BBI. And his disruptive hustler nation narrative that made the establishment nervous.
When the Star asked its readers to nominate their persons of the year, Ruto’s name was among the top 10 nominees.
He was also the only politician to make the top 10 list, with readers christening him the ‘unofficial opposition leader’.
“He had endeared himself to ‘hustler nation’ with his endless donations and opposition to the BBI,” one of the readers said.
Others said that Ruto deserved the nomination because he was “lifting the less privileged in the community” and “holding Kenyans together”.
“He has weathered very heavy political beating without giving up, which has inspired very many Kenyans including me. He is no doubt, sharp upstairs. He is very confident. He has come up with a political ideology to do with Hustlers unlike other politicians who don’t have a clear ideology,” another nominator said.
Another one said Ruto had inspired many by earning a PhD while “occupying the busy office of the deputy president”.
On Wednesday, Ruto told the Star that he was honoured and thanked those who picked him.
“My devotion is to the duty of serving Kenyans, ensure unity, inclusivity and development. My call for consensus in the BBI debate is informed by the need to have one Kenya, where each of us is treated equally and institutions respected,” Ruto said.
The issue of the ‘hustler nation’ dominated most of the nominations and many said he was genuine in his quest to uplift the less fortunate.
The ‘hustler nation’ tag has attracted both praise and criticism for Ruto and his political opponents have called it hypocrisy.
Among his critics are ODM leader Raila Odinga who has accused him of failing to deliver in government and using unquestionable wealth to run the programme.
Ruto for years has proudly called himself the Hustler and in his presidential campaign, he is appealing to a nation of suffering hustlers who struggle to get ahead.
He donates money and tools to help hustlers start a business and overcome Covid-19 hardships.
“Because we have all agreed that Kenya is a hustler nation, our priority should be to ensure all hustlers have food on their table, they are given business opportunities and we create jobs to ensure they are gainfully engaged because Kenya belongs to all of us,” Ruto said on September 20.
On BBI – after initially opposing some aspects – Ruto said he would not want to see a political contest over the changes.
“Genuinely, I do not want a contested referendum and I will bend over backwards to ensure that this does not happen. There are people who are desperate for a contest not because of the contents of the Bill but as a way of assembling a team on the other side,” the DP told the Star in November.
The Deputy President said his political opponents want to use the referendum to play catch-up due to his various meetings across the country.
“The main problem with this BBI process is that it is shrouded in secrecy and you can see that the document that they went to sign at KICC, nobody had it and people were reading after the fact,” Ruto said.
On appearing to be the unofficial opposition leader, Ruto told Weru TV on September 6 that he cannot blindly support all government policies.
“I support President Uhuru Kenyatta but I am not a fool… I will not support without asking a question when I have to…” Ruto said.
In August, the DP told the Star in an interview that he was ready to leave Jubilee in the future if things do not work out.
The DP, however, said that there were people who aimed to push him to fight with Uhuru but had failed.
“These people pretend that they are speaking for the President. The Uhuru Kenyatta that I know cannot be that petty. How can Uhuru send people to insult Ruto?” the DP asked.