Gloves are off as Ruto takes battle to Uhuru
By Oliver Musembi, March 17, 2022Buoyed by his endorsement as the UDA presidential candidate on August 9, Deputy President William Ruto now appears more emboldened and ready to take on President Uhuru Kenyatta as election date draws closer.
Shedding the mien of a loyal principal assistant not ready to lock horns with his boss, Ruto is tomorrow scheduled to hold a campaign rally at the President’s Ichaweri village, Gatundu South in Kiambu county in what could be interpreted as his determination to take on the President directly.
Ruto, who previously shied off from confronting the President directly, has lately taken a different approach, responding to attacks on him by the Head of State.
His tour of Ichaweri comes barely two days after the DP was crowned as the Kenya Kwanza presidential flag-bearer and in the wake of defections by the President’s political foot soldiers from his Kiambu county home turf.
In his acceptance speech on Tuesday after being endorsed by UDA delegates, Ruto accused the President of betrayal, intimidation, plunging the country into debt, impoverising farmers, cracking down on legitimate businesses and weaponising State institutions.
“We want to tell our competitors, we will do the complete opposite,” Ruto told the cheering 5,000 delegates at Kasarani stadium, a statement that political analyst Macharia Munene says was daring Uhuru.
“In his entire speech, Ruto gave the indication that he is keen to go it all alone and was in fact daring the President to assemble a team against him,” Prof Munene said yesterday.
Last week, while endorsing his preferred candidate ODM leader Raila Odinga of Azimio La Umoja, Uhuru reiterated his commitment not to leave instruments of power in the hands of an individual who could jeopardise his and former President Mwai Kibaki’s legacies.
Ruto’s visit to Gatundu will be the first since he fell out with his boss after the 2017 elections in which they had weathered a stiff challenge from the Odinga-led Nasa coalition.
The DP, who will be accompanied by his close allies and coalition party leaders including the host Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria (Chama Cha Kazi), Musalia Mudavadi (Amani National Congress), William Kabogo (Tujibebe Wakenya Party), among others, will make stop-overs at various centres including President Kenyatta’s Ichaweri village, setting the stage for a potential major political showdown should Uhuru’s men respond.
The Ruto team is expected to address locals at Kenyatta Road Estate, Kimunyu trading centre, Mutomo, Ichaweri and Gatundu town among other areas.
Kuria, an aspirant for the Kiambu governorship, had earlier said he would host the DP in Gatundu following his coronation as the UDA presidential candidate.
Scathing attack
“We want to show you that the people of Kiambu and in particular Gatundu love you and you will get a hero’s welcome,” Kuria had said and added that area residents had no problem with Uhuru and would receive their son home warmly when he retires.
This will be the second time that Ruto will be holding a meeting at Uhuru’s doorstep since last Sunday’s meeting in Thika at which he and his political troops unleashed a scathing attack on the Head of State, accusing him of betrayal.
Many of the President’s lieutenants including MPs have decamped from the ruling Jubilee Party to Ruto’s UDA on which ticket they are seeking elective positions.
Among the latest defectors is Ruiru MP Simon King’ara who quit Jubilee during UDA’s National Delegate’s Congress at Kasarani.
The MP will seek to retain the seat on a UDA ticket for which he will have to fight it out with former MP Esther Gathogo and nominated senator Isaac Mwaura, both of who had joined the Hustlers’ party earlier.
King’ara’s defection came as a surprise to many since the MP was seen as one of President Kenyatta’s staunch supporters in Kiambu. His move now leaves Kiambu Town legislator Jude Njomo and his Limuru counterpart Peter Mwathi as the only Uhuru loyalists in the county.
Prof Munene says that by going for Kiambu Senator and Senate Majority Whip Kimani Wamatangi, who has been one of Uhuru’s key lieutenants in Kiambu and Mt Kenya, Ruto was sending signals to the President that “their differences have now become bare-knuckled”.
“Both the defection of Wamatangi and tomorrow’s visit to Ichaweri are a manifestation that Ruto is now ready to take the war to the President’s door step. It is no longer a gentleman’s affair but a real battle,” says Munene.
Besides the MPs, Kabogo’s Sunday decision to join the Kenya Kwanza coalition appears to have dealt another blow to the Azimio camp since he has hitherto been seen as a close ally of the President.
Heroic reception
Since last year, Ruto has been making in-roads in President Kenyatta’s Mt Kenya backyard, winning over politicians such as Irungu Kang’ata (Murang’a), Gathoni Wamuchomba (Kiambu), Gabriel Kago (Githunguri), Mwangi Kiunjuri and (former Agriculture CS) among others.
Some of the organisers of tomorrow’s event led by Gatundu South parliamentary aspirant Gabriel (GG) Kagombe are confident that residents will turn out in large numbers to welcome the DP.
“The DP enjoys solid support from the people of Kiambu County and by extension Gatundu. We shall give him a warm and heroic reception,” Kagombe told People Daily.
However, Kiambu Jubilee party leaders led by Governor James Nyoro, his deputy Joyce Ngugi and Thika Town parliamentary aspirant David Ngari Gakuyo, warned the DP’s brigade that they will not be allowed to demean the President this time.
“We shall not allow anyone to insult the President like they did in Thika which was a blatant show of disrespect to our leader,” said Nyoro in a statement without specifying what action they plan to take.
Following his Handshake with Raila in 2018, Uhuru parted ways with his deputy, leading to a bitter end to their bromance.
Allies of the President including Jubilee deputy Secretary-General Joshua Kutuny, who is also the Cherang’any MP, say the DP has of late come out strongly to take his boss head-on after realising that he no longer enjoys the support of the President.
“It is good that he is now coming out in his true colours for all Kenyans to see. His attacks on the President are rather personalised and not based on ideology,” Kutuny said yesterday.