On one hand is a near octogenarian, a monument – Raila Amolo Odinga, hailed in some quarters as the county’s father of democracy, an old-time good governance advocate who was at the pinnacle of major constitutional changes in Kenya. Mr. Odinga is a kin to a horrific flame. The former Prime Minister is a ferocious mass mobilize who enjoys a cultic following from across the country and a turbulent street experience not equaled to any politician in recent times. Some would argue that it is these qualities that he employed to blackmail former president Kibaki and now president Kenyatta into ceding enormous powers to him. Babu Owino tells Raila he has numbers, state on his side: “Ruto is nothing” In another corner is a group of equally passionate dissidents who rate him as a top breed dictator running his ODM party like a roadside Kiosk, a gluttonous self-seeking individual keen at gratifying personal ambitions while sacrificing his supporters at the altar of mass unrests. Raila Odinga will have to contend with an unstoppable force, an eloquent, vibrant and ruthless schemer, in the person of Kenya’s first deputy president William Samoei Ruto. Ruto is one of the few self-styled, self-starters who withered countless career-ending political assaults to emerge the county’s second most powerful man. ODM leader Raila Odinga in a event. Photo: ODM Source: Facebook PAY ATTENTION: Click ‘See First’ under ‘Follow’ Tab to see Tuko.co.ke news on your FB feed Ruto’s political death was to come early. In the year 2009, while working as President Kibaki’s agricultural minister, the then chair of public accounts committee and MP for Ikolomani Boni Khalwale and his henchmen had a well-documented dossier and the right firepower to prosecute him and possibly impeach the then little known minister. Maina Kageni pays tribute to late Bob Collymore in touching post: “You were on my mind” But like a good wrestler, the DP turned up in parliament well-rehearsed and with a tone of counterpoint evidence that rendered Khalwale’s onslaught immaterial. Khalalwe is now the DP’s fervent attack dog that wags its tail at a morsel here and crumbs there. A series of scandals not limited to land grabbing and disappearance of key international crime witnesses would later dog Ruto’s political life, but like before, he navigated them with ease considering the predictable criminal justice systems that most would argue was not designed for the likes of Dr. William. The good doctor now banks on the large pool of naive voters christened ‘hustlers’ to propel him to the highest seat on the land. He has woven his political messages and strategies to resonate with the majority poor who he says mirrors his journey. With 2022 peeping around the corner, whatever move these two political stalwarts pull will significantly determine the power equilibrium. It will be a choice for the lesser evil.