OPANGA: Ruto does not seem comfortable in his skin

Deputy President William Ruto speaking at Flax in Uasin Gishu County on January 3, 2014. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• Deputy President William Ruto is spending far too much time attacking and threatening; targeting Mr Raila Odinga; fighting his own United Republican Party (URP) legislators; and, worse, unseen enemies.
• The aim was clear; heap all the garbage at Mr Odinga’s doorstep and cause his every step, breath and word to stink before the people of the Rift Valley and central Kenya. 

 

By Kwendo Opanga
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There is something unusual about Deputy President William Ruto these days. The man is erratic. You do not know what he is going to say when he sees a microphone.

He is spending far too much time attacking and threatening; targeting Mr Raila Odinga; fighting his own United Republican Party (URP) legislators; and, worse, unseen enemies.

He goes on national TV bright and early and fresh; well turned out and in good voice. Then he duly informs Kenyans that the national government may dissolve the Marsabit County government. And the reason he wants the county government dissolved is because it has failed to ensure the security of the county and its people.

That is called stirring a hornet’s nest. First, Marsabit is led by the defeated and still hurting opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) of Mr Raila Odinga. Mr Odinga never had an invitation to a political fight that he did not honour. Second, security is the national government’s foremost duty, the new constitutional order notwithstanding.

Thirdly, the history of devolution arouses suspicion and loathing for the centre. The independence government of Jomo Kenyatta starved regions of funds and, therefore, killed devolution which was then called majimbo. And, Mr Ruto seems to forget that he teamed up with conservative clergy in 2010 to lead the campaign against this progressive Constitution.

But the DP is not done. He tells Kenyans that the President was misadvised in making the job appointments announced recently.

Let’s take one example. The Planning and Devolution Cabinet Secretary Ann Waiguru and the President both duly appointed free-spirited Abduba Dida chairman of the board of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

The CDF Act says the chairman shall be appointed from four of the Fund’s board members. Mr Dida is not a board member.

Second, the chairman’s appointment shall be approved by Parliament. Mr Dida’s two appointments made no reference to Parliament. Did Ms Waiguru publish her December 4 appointment without the President’s knowledge?

I would like to assume that the President did not know of Mr Dida’s appointment by his Cabinet Secretary.

Surely, if he did, he would not have appointed the same man on December 31. Now was the Deputy President similarly misadvised? I would rather persuade myself that he was not in the loop, even though this is still a fine mess.

Why? The DP is an adviser of the President’s. According to the Constitution, he is the President’s principal assistant. Given that this is a coalition government, it is expected that Mr Ruto would be consulted on such appointments because they are supposed to be shared out on a 50-50 basis between his URP and the President’s The National Alliance.

It appears the DP was not consulted; if he was, then his advice was not acted on. If he was consulted and his advice acted on, then he must be either one of those misleading the President or he and the President were misadvised.

The latter thought is frightening. But it buttresses my belief that Mr Ruto is currently not comfortable in his skin.

Some time in 2012, I argued that nobody knew how to frame an issue better than Mr Ruto. As the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Mau evictions took centre stage in Kenya’s politics, I argued that Mr Ruto had time and again beaten Mr Odinga, then the prime minister, hands down in the propaganda war.

Mr Ruto had successfully, albeit dishonestly, portrayed Mr Odinga as the villain of the ICC piece, the man who, in pursuit of his dream to be president, would sell his colleagues to a distant colonial court.

He also mercilessly demonised him as the insensitive man who would evict the poor of Mau in a bid to win international recognition as an environmentalist.

The aim was clear; heap all the garbage at Mr Odinga’s doorstep and cause his every step, breath and word to stink before the people of the Rift Valley and central Kenya.

The prize was close proximity to the highest office in the land and keeping Mr Odinga as far away from it as possible. This plot was brilliantly executed.

The zenith of Mr Ruto’s elocution was on display one afternoon at Kasarani. It was Mr Ruto who famously defined and framed the last General Election as a contest between analogue (wazee wanaoenda nyumbani) and digital (vijana wanaoenda kwa serikali). The discourse and divide of the election were irrevocably decided — indeed, done and dusted.

Now he desperately says digital was about technology and not age!

Opanga is a media consultant. opanga@diplomateastafrica.com