Deputy President William Ruto is leaving nothing to chance as he seeks to replace President Uhuru Kenyatta as State House when 2022 comes.
However, just like any other contest, huddles against his quest to become Kenya's fifth president are growing by the day, and the latest of this huddles is the Mau Forest evictions in which the DPs' name has widely been linked to.
The forest is largely being occupied by members of the Kalenjin and the Maasai communities who are the majority in Rift Valley region.
Unless the DP handles the evictions issue with wisdom and with a lot of care, the development may turn out to be his greatest setback when 2022 comes.
Members of the Maasai community led by Narok North MP Moitalel Ole Kenta have squarely blamed the DP for the eviction of their brother and sisters and they also claim that the evictions target the Maasai and not the Kalenjin.
The Maasai who link Ruto to the eviction of their kin from Kenya's largest water tower constitutes a large voting block in Rift Valley which the DP is relying on for 2022.
They occupy the two counties of Narok and Kajiado and they are also spread in other counties including Nakuru and Samburu. Kenyan politics in full of tribalism and any link between Ruto and the evictions will deal him a blow in 2022 as the Maasai may not support him. This would be a mega blow to the DP in his own Rift Valley backyard.
The former Eldoret North MP must handle the evictions fiasco delicately lest his opponents will use it to deny him the Maasai votes.