Deputy President William Ruto has every reason to disengage himself from the ruling Jubilee Party ahead of his presidential bid in 2022 general election.
He has already embarked on this and is silently trying to shake it from within, hence the many lamentations coming from his side of the coalition via his close allies.
Aware that pushing harder will eventually kill the party, he is using his lieutenants to defy President Uhuru Kenyatta’s orders, in a bid to create a rift that will see each quarter head in the opposite direction.
This is the reason behind his side's continued 2022 campaigns, opposition to the lifestyle audits and claims implicating Uhuru's allies in a plot to politically victimise Ruto, all done to anger Uhuru's side.
But why would he do that when everyone knows that he needs Uhuru’s backing, alongside everyone else’s to clinch the post?
Ruto knows that he already has Central Kenya votes whether or not the President and the area leaders back him.
He was very instrumental in Uhuru’s two previous elections and will obviously get the majority of the Kikuyu vote as a 'thank you' token.
Ruto is therefore trying to avoid being compelled into picking a running mate from the region, as by running without the President's backing he will be free to pick whoever he wishes without being forced into deliberations.
He also wants to justify his ‘hustler’ claim and wants to be seen as having made it on his own without any other big politician’s support.
If he makes it to the seat, Ruto will be able to single-handedly run the government and is keen on avoiding a situation of being told who and who not to appoint and this can only be achieved by moving away from the people who will push him into that corner.
This way, he will not have to appease anyone or be demonised for kicking the ladder that placed him at the top.
Lastly, he wants to disconnect himself from the Kenyatta dynasty under which he has lived in for the last 6 years and introduce his own.