The most sensitive political issue in Rift Valley definitely is the succession politics.
Enter bars, hotels, matatus, public forums and even social media, the topic is one: how the son of the soil will get the top job.
Endless possibilities and scenarios have been spun. Propaganda machines are being oiled in readiness for the seemingly insurmountable battle to the house on the hill. Before then, however, dissent is simmering in Deputy President William Ruto’s backyard, Uasin Gishu.
And the issue at hand is maize. Maize farmers are demanding better prices for their produce. Right in the middle of the sensitive issue is Ruto’s name. There are allegations he is planting maize in Congo [the Congo is unclear – DRC or Brazzaville].
The propaganda machines were immediately painted in gaudy colours, proclaiming the three musketeers – Kutuny, Keter and Tiren – as having been hired by outside forces to derail the self-proclaimed hustler on his quest to succeed Uhuru.
It is not the first time DP Ruto’s camp has come out guns blazing, defending him. The lifestyle audit launched by the president was seen as a ploy to get at him, and the demolition of buildings on riparian land was seen as a way of destroying Ruto’s assets.
If these allegations are anything to go by, then the powers that be, Kenya’s aristocrats, it has been very difficult to get at hustler. If they don’t, then the aristocracy may as well be prepared for an ‘outsider’ to run things at state house come 2022.
According to Robert Greene’s 48 laws of power, the fifteenth law states that you must destroy your enemy completely. Failure to do so will be your own downfall because he will come at you with guns and all the artillery in his armoury, and you won’t stop him.
Such is the case of Mr Ruto. To destroy him, the powers that be must politically cripple him. They must seize all his assets to the last coin. That way he will retreat to Sugoi, and cool his heels, not to appear in national politics again.
It will be very difficult to depose William Ruto at the moment. He has sunk his tentacles across the country, and he is currently crisscrossing the country, with the aim of reaching every nook and cranny of this vast republic.
To defeat him, his political nemeses have a hard task cutting him to ground. Ruto’s star will keep shining for quite for a long time if the aristocrats do not come with an effective plan to reduce him to his former status – a mere son of a peasant.
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