As two political bulls fight, the grass suffers

The gloves are finally off in a furious battle between President William Ruto and some of his former close allies-turned foes. They include the recently sacked Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi, whose earlier tenure as the Attorney General President Ruto has dismissed in one word: Incompetence.

It is getting uglier as the combatants open cans of worms. These exchanges, disclosures, some unproven, are exposing the Executive and could have far-reaching consequences. Mr Muturi told NTV in an interview that Mr Ruto “is unfit to be the President”.

According to Mr Muturi, the President is also “irredeemably corrupt”. The bare-knuckle exchanges are, of course, setting the stage for the next elections in August 2027. New alliances are already emerging. President Ruto’s UDA is getting cozy with his opponent in the 2022 State House race, ODM leader Raila Odinga, in their new broad-based government.

But where there is smoke there is fire. The muck being unleashed has not come out of the blue. Some of it may be exaggerated, but if there was ever a major test for the current leadership, this is it. Fear is now an alien word, with the protagonists saying it as it is. The only problem is that whenever two bulls fight, the grass suffers. As the tussles occupy the protagonists, service delivery to the ordinary Kenyans is hampered.

In an ideal system, fresh elections would be called to give voters an opportunity to either renew the mandate of the incumbents or vote them out. But elections are quite costly. For the 2027 elections, the IEBC’s budget is Sh61.7 billion. 

That is not pocket change. It is a massive cost for the struggling economy, which has forced government budget cuts as it strives to cater for basic services such as education and health.

The reconstitution of the IEBC should be speeded up so that a competent new team is put in place to manage free and fair elections to vote in the best leaders to take the country forward.