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Keen on succeeding President Uhuru Kenyatta after his second term, an extreemely ambitious Deputy President William Ruto, immediately after their victory in 2013 embarked on elaborate strategies to not only build strong political networks but also amass immense wealth to advance his chances.

Buoyed by their 2013 arrangement that after 10  years in power, Uhuru and his backers would automatically support him in 2022, Ruto exploited his position and trust the President had on him to endear himself to the masses and create a powerful force to reckon with in national politics.

From taking control of key state and political offices by influencing appointments, controlling the ruling party, tailor-made development tours, church and school fundraisers where he donated millions of shillings as he sought to penetrate Uhuru’s backyard where he was received with open arms and raiding opposition turfs, Ruto over the time became a political juggernaut that would later shock his boss.

Through such appointments, Ruto has continued to wield unfettered influence and access in government circles to date.

So powerful is Ruto’s political empire that both friends and foes have been left baffled in equal measure on how a man from such a humble background built such a network within that short period of five years.

Political analyst Prof Amukowa Anangwe argues that the DP created a network of political cronies to innocuously access the public resources. “Uhuru unwittingly gave Ruto a blank cheque to access public resources,” Prof Anangwe claimed.

However, apart from the ‘Muteshi’ land case, no court has ever found Ruto guilty of corruption allegations, and the DP has in the past insisted that his is clean money only that he is a generous man compared to others.

Uhuru’s blue-eyed boy

So influential had the DP become that, according to sources, after the Cabinet meetings at State House he would drive with all the Cabinet Secretaries to his Karen residence “under the disguise of lunch” where more government discussions and decisions would be made.

Ruto, the source said, ended up appearing like the President’s blue-eyed boy and that is why politicians from across the political divide were fighting to be close to him at the time because in most of the instances, his demands carried the day in government decisions.

“During the first  term, the Deputy President was the de facto president. He wielded a lot of power.

He influenced decisions of government, dictated on government projects, on who would be an ambassador and to what country as well as the heads of parastatals,” said a former State House official who worked closely with UhuRuto in the last term, but who sought anonymity.

“The DP’s influence became monumental from the time he combined forces with Uhuru in the run-up to the 2013 General Election.

He seems to have meticulously but clandestinely developed, concealed and sustained an intricate political network across counties, especially in the Mt Kenya and Coast regions where he made significant inroads in places that he knew he would need the most,” said political analyst Javas Bigambo.

Bigambo argues that while Ruto seemed to be building the Jubilee Party, he was investing in personal networks, friendships and building trust.

Power and influence

According to United States International (USIU) don Prof Macharia Munene, the DP had a free-range during the period 2013-17 where he launched government projects and built his networks.

“He appeared everywhere and had no restrictions because they were looking for re-election.

He portrayed himself as the person working and delivering for the government and people bought the idea. He kept reminding the people of the government’s performance,” said Munene.

He further opined that during the first term, there was no other factor apart from the DP, which gave him unfettered movement across the country to sell Jubilee policies.

Anangwe added: “Between 2013 and 2017, Ruto was a de facto co-president which gave him a leeway to exercise immense power and influence that surpassed that of the de jure president himself.

The entire state machinery was at his beckoning, which implied he was able to shape significantly public policies and public resource allocation.”

The DP’s wealth has been a subject of debate among politicians, and after Ruto branded Raila Odinga the Lord of poverty, the former Prime Minister fired back calling him the “high priest of corruption” and asked Kenyans to reject alleged stolen money.

Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi has previously suggested that from the amount of money Ruto donated in churches and schools, it means he is the richest person in Kenya based on the frequency and the amount.

“Safaricom is the richest company in Kenya and their profit records show that no other company is above them. Safaricom has a foundation which it uses to run Corporate Social Responsibility activities. (And so) if Safaricom is the richest company in the country, how then is it possible that one person can give out money every weekend and everywhere that is way above what the company spends on CSR activities,” Mudavadi said during a church service in Ruaka in 2018 when Ruto would dish out cash.

But in response, Ruto vowed to continue with his mission to assist the downtrodden, telling his critics to stop judging him harshly. 

“When you see some of us go to church, lift hands, make this contribution it’s because we can’t forget where God brought us from. Some of us have more to thank God for, than most of us,” he said.

Further, Anangwe argued that what made Ruto create such a formidable political machine in the first Jubilee term is because he knew he would lose the leverage in government once Uhuru secured his reelection and, perhaps, less need for the Kalenjin support.

“He may have anticipated a fallout with Uhuru in the second term and so he was, as it were, making hay while the sun still shone, since he was gearing himself for a stab at the presidency.”

Further, though he was the deputy party leader in Jubilee Party, Ruto also took over the control of the party after the merger which saw Uhuru’s defunct The National Alliance (TNA) and his United Republican Party (URA) among nine others merge, and during primaries, he selectively picked those who were to carry the Jubilee mantle.

In the run up to the 2017 polls and during the Jubilee primaries, some leaders lost in the nominations and pointed an accusing finger to the DP Ruto is said to have taken advantage of the free hand accorded to him by the President to oversee Jubilee nominations to plant his henchmen in almost all parts of Mt Kenya region, the people who still support him to date.

Those who lost include former MPs Ndung’u Gethenji (Tetu), Kabando Wa Kabando (Mukurweini), Jamleck Kamau (Kigumo), Maina Kamanda (Nominated), Peter Kenneth, Priscilla Nyokabi (Nyeri) and Alice Ng’ang’a (Thika Town) among others.

After the primaries, Kenneth claimed that Ruto rigged him out of the Jubilee Party primaries in favour of the then Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko to fly the party’s gubernatorial contest.

Kenneth alleged that the DP camped at the party headquarters during the duration of the nominations from where he schemed the rigging.

“We did not lose the Jubilee Party nominations. My opponent was assisted by somebody high up in the party hierarchy.

Our opponent was assisted by somebody who wanted to cut me to size politically…and let’s not cheat ourselves, that person is Ruto,” said Kenneth.

Flawed nominations

To-date, Ruto seems to enjoy the support of several MPs from Mt Kenya region, starting from Alice Wahome (Kandara), Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu), Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), Irungu Kangáta (Murangá Senator), Purity Ngirici (Kirinyaga Woman Rep), Susan Kihika (Nakuru Senator) and Kimani Ichung’wa (Kikuyu) among others.

In February 2019, in a local TV programme, Jubilee Party Vice Chairman David Murathe also claimed  the DP had interfered with the nominations.

“I have a problem with the DP’s attitude. In the Jubilee nominations, for instance, he came there and sabotaged the elections on the first day and we had to repeat in several areas.

During the repeat nominations, there was massive rigging of certain popular candidates and that’s because he wanted to install certain nobodies who were allied to him,” Murathe said.

Besides, in the run-up to the 2017 polls, Ruto took control of the Jubilee Party and used his bargaining power to ensure that Senate Majority Leader position, which was a reserve for Mt Kenya, was taken away from Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki and given to Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, his key lieutenant.

In 2013, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale (Garissa Town) came from the defunct United Republican Party (URP) where the DP was the party leader.

Duale was removed from his position last year after President Uhuru launched a shocker at those allied to his DP.

His lieutenants had also formed a sky team that included Tharaka Nithi Senator Prof Kithure Kindiki, Murkomen, Kimani Ichung’wa (Kikuyu), Kanini Kega (Kieni) and former Thika Town MP Alice Ng’ang’a.

The team was criss-crossing the country using choppers to help the DP launch government projects, fundraisers and helped him penetrate President Kenyatta’s backyard.

Strategist and visionary

In 2014, a year after President Uhuru and Ruto formed the Jubilee government; Uhuru summoned all Kikuyu MPs to State House and told them that if they needed anything, they should go to the Deputy President.

“We must ensure our people trust the DP…you know our people are conservative,” the President is purported to have told the MPs, an argument that his allies ran away with until the March 9, 2018 Handshake between Uhuru and Raila. 

However, Ruto’s ally Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira) charged that Ruto will not be president because he has been denied the opportunity to launch projects, but because he has endeared himself to the people and especially from Mt Kenya.

 “He has been visiting the people because he is accessible and he listens. His popularity has even gone higher than during the first term,” he said.

Gachagua said despite humiliation by the government operatives, the DP has remained steadfast on his mission to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“If they thought Ruto was bad then why could they not change a running mate? The President had a choice to change but he did not.

You cannot now turn around and tell people that this person is bad. There are no fools in Mt Kenya who can buy that rubbish,” said Gachagua.

According to Murkomen, who is one of Ruto’s ardent lieutenants, the DP started preparing himself for the big office from the first day he was sworn in office alongside President Uhuru.

“It is a journey started way back when Jubilee took over the reins of power. The DP is a strategist and has a vision in life.

He knew where he was going and set his eyes on the goal ahead,” said Murkomen.