Conquering NASA leader Raila Odinga's Nyanza political turf will be Deputy President (DP) William Ruto's acid test even as the 2022 election political drums start beating. However, for the man like the DP who has mastered the game, the task ahead may not be impossible after all.
DP Ruto's ally Mr. George Ayugi is the man to springboard the political ambitions of the former Eldoret North MP in as far as swinging Nyanza region to his camp is concerned.
Though a low-profile guy, Ayugi who at one point served as ODM youth leader has been Ruto's right hand man since their days in the Orange Party and wields too much influence within the DP's camp.
And with 2022 politics slowly starting to take shape, Ayugi has positioned himself as the DP's point man in Raila's Luo Nyanza turf.
"Ruto's campaign team is being assembled and you will be shocked to hear who are in the team from Luo Nyanza," Ayugi, the former United Republican Party Organizing Secretary was quoted by the Standard.
According to Ayugi, most former Nyanza MPs who lost in the 2017 election have joined the DP's camp and have been meeting to strategize on the 2022 elections.
Though he has not fully established himself as a formidable politician in an ODM- dominated region, Ayugi's political maneuvers in Raila's turf may play a key role in Ruto's State House race. But for that to happen, he must play his game tactically. After all, he is working for a master political operator.