Deputy President William Ruto has every reason to be worried after the Supreme Court's approval of Nandi Hills lawmaker Alfred Keter's reelection.
Keter has been leading a pack of rebellious North Rift leaders in firing shots as the DP.
His newfound freedom, therefore, means that Ruto could be in for more savage attacks.
The DP must henceforth prepare for more criticisms and attacks that have at times taken the direction of purported revelations into his secret dealings.
A good example is a recent claim by the rebellious trio of Keter, Silas Tiren (Moiben) and Joshua Kuttuny (Cherangany) that DP Ruto is striving to kill the Kenyan maize sector to create room for his own maize allegedly being produced in Congo.
More of these are therefore set to come, especially now that the youthful lawmaker is free and also excited for surviving the petition filed by Bernard Kitur.
A continuation of such attacks could see Kenyans start to believe in him, a factor that might make Ruto's path slippery as he seeks to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022.
This will also divert Kenyans' attention, denying Ruto the popularity he needs to win the seat.
It further means that the self-proclaimed hustler's elected allies will have to designate a portion of their time that would have been used to serve their subjects to respond to Keter's allegations and attacks.
This will to some extent slow down development in their regions, with DP Ruto being the ultimate loser as Kenyans are likely to judge him based on the performance of the people surrounding him.
And with Keter also enjoying some support in his backyard, he could decide to join hands with Ruto's sworn rival, Baringo Senator Gideon Moi now that he remains relevant.
This could weaken the DP, or end up making him weaker in his home turf even if he wins the seat anyway.
The achievement has denied Ruto the chance to replace him with a more friendly person and get a bigger say in the North Rift region.
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