Temperatures rise as DP Ruto’s men fight for space

Deputy President William Ruto pays tribute to veteran politician Kenneth Matiba during the memorial service at All Saints' Cathedral, Nairobi, on April 25, 2018. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• Sirisia MP John Waluke said there are genuine fears about the succession plan after the March 9 handshake.
• Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa rubbished claims of bad blood between President Kenyatta and his deputy.

By PATRICK LANG'AT
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Battle lines have been drawn in the tripartite political tussle involving Deputy President William Ruto, President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.

Seven weeks after President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga shook hands on the steps of Harambee House and vowed to bury the hatchet, Mr Ruto, a viciously ambitious politician with eyes trained on the State House seat, has appeared increasingly isolated in the political game.

Now, allies of DP Ruto have vowed to take the war to President Kenyatta’s doorstep, a man they believe has let loose Mr Odinga after the handshake.

The strategy, sources close to the Ruto camp intimated, was to oppose any calls for a change of the Constitution proposed by Mr Odinga’s camp.

“We have been monitoring events as they unfold, it will be premature to engage politically at this moment, but by saying no to constitution referendum is [a] way of sending a message we are prepared for a brutal phase ahead,” an MP from Rift valley - a close ally of Mr Ruto - said.

LAW REVIEW

Mr Ruto has repeatedly dismissed calls for a constitution review.

“The handshake has collapsed. There is no handshake anymore. We do not want a referendum.

"They want a referendum. So we can’t go to bed together. We also cannot agree to another level of devolution — it is expensive!” National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said on the floor of the House on Thursday, summarising what is said to be the common feeling in Mr Ruto’s camp against the Raila agenda in the handshake.

In public, Mr Ruto has described the handshake as President Kenyatta’s legacy, but in private, sources said, his camp is getting increasingly worried with the place of Mr Odinga, and his calls for a change of the structure of the Executive — one that will definitely affect Mr Ruto’s arithmetic.

2022 ELECTIONS
But it is in a direct warning by President Kenyatta against those he said were in his camp against the handshake “because they thrive in commotion”, which has escalated the ongoing war to one that is now in the Jubilee kitchen where Mr Odinga appears to know where the utensils are kept.

On Friday, vocal Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei said he suspected the calls to stop 2022 talks were from the opposition, and which have now found themselves in the Jubilee camp.

“We know Raila has his history of causing political division.

"He is keen to cause conflict between the Jubilee top leaders and we are seeing him succeeding in doing that.

"We supported Jubilee and we voted Uhuru in 2013 and 2017 and betrayal of William Ruto in 2022 will not be entertained… it is a must,” Mr Cherargei said.

POLITICAL ENEMY
Speaking in Tinderet constituency where he visited residents displaced by landslides, Mr Cherargei said the Ruto camp will stick to the 2022 campaigns — in spite of the gag order.

“They are saying we should not talk about 2022 because our son William Ruto is a breathe away from the top seat. We will talk about 2022 whether they like it or not,” he said.

Sirisia MP John Waluke, another ally of the DP, said there are “genuine fears” about the succession plan after the March 9 handshake.

“Those of us who back Ruto to be the next President look at Raila as a political enemy.

"We will not allow him to blow up Jubilee the way he did other parties in the past,” Mr Waluke said in Eldoret.

On Thursday in Kakamega, Mr Ruto, in a speech he gave to encourage deputy governors, may well have summarised the difficult position the DP finds himself in after the handshake.

“Being a deputy is not an easy job. You have to balance your ambition and serving your boss,” he told the deputy county chiefs during the just-ended devolution conference in Kakamega.

RAILA ODINGA
University of Nairobi’s Herman Manyora summarised the DP’s situation thus:

“The handshake has unsettled many people, top on the list being William Ruto.

"Everything was going well for him, and it was just a matter of counting the years. His chances at a shot at the top job was 100 per cent, now reduced to 50-50.”

On the Raila influence, Mr Manyora said, was the fear that President Kenyatta might turn on him in favour of Mr Odinga.

“Raila is not a threat to Ruto on his own. But backed by Uhuru, who has the real power to thwart his chances, Ruto has a real reason to worry. Uhuru and Raila have become joined at the hip, and together, they are a real threat.”

UNITY
But Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa rubbished claims of bad blood between President Kenyatta and his deputy.

In fact, the National Budget committee chairman suggested that anyone propagating claims of a rift would be dispensed with, including Mr Odinga.

“The president and his deputy are reading from the same script. They are focused on what needs to be done.

"They have both said their focus is on creating jobs, and reviving the economy. So if Raila is on political tangent and changing of the Constitution and what not, then he is on his own,” Mr Ichung’wa said.

The Kikuyu MP suggested the President and the DP are in fact the crafters of the handshake, “because they had already agreed to unite Kenya when they merged in 2012”.

REFERENDUM
That the DP is concerned with the direction the handshake is taking, and its possible effect on his career has been evident on his almost violent opposition to any proposal to alter the Constitution.

Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has already made public its intentions to back a referendum to create an office of the executive prime minister.

“If Mr Ruto has any question on the issue our party leader raised yesterday, he should pick it up with the President who signed the agreement on behalf of Jubilee Party.

"Is he by any chance attacking the President signature on the document?” ODM secretary-general Edwin Sifuna said, taunting the absence of the DP when the March 9 deal was signed.

Additional reporting by Dennis Lubanga and Stanley Kimuge