Politics in North Rift is without a doubt dominated by Deputy President Dr William Ruto whose fame is growing with each passing day.
Any politician seeking to battle with Ruto in the region is likely to face opposition considering the DP enjoys massive support in Rift Valley, which is his political backyard and home turf.
However, Nandi Hills legislator Alfred Keter has been one of a kind when it comes to verbal attacks on the DP.
Over the recent years, the outspoken lawmaker has been constantly attacking the DP on various issues of public interest including graft cases surrounding the National Youth Service (NYS), the Kenya Pipeline Company, maize importation, 2022 succession politics among others.
Keter has not been swimming in the same political waters with the DP for a while. In fact, he almost lost his seat mid last year in an election petition due to what political pundits described as his cold war with Ruto.
However, Keter seems to have stopped his vocal attacks on the DP and has instead been discussing other issues including development programmes in his constituency and the 2022 succession politics whenever he makes public appearances.
The North Rift being the DP’s stronghold, implies that a big percentage of Nandi Hills electorate are ardent supporters of the DP.
Keter thus might have decided to reduce his attacks on Ruto so as to stay politically relevant.
The fact that the Nandi Hills lawmaker has also made clear his intention to unseat Nandi Governor Stephen Sang in 2022, could be another reason why he no longer criticises at the DP in press conferences and in political rallies.
This is attributed to the fact that he might not want to lose the political support of the electorate who love and trust the DP.
Also, a big percentage of the elected leaders in Nandi County and North rift as a whole are loyal to Ruto hence the lawmaker could be afraid of being alone in his anti-Ruto campaign.
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