Deputy President William Ruto mentioned 10 personalities in his live interview on Inooro FM and TV on Wednesday. Here is what he said about them.
1. Dr William Ruto. He spoke about himself, insisting that he was determined to contest and win. But if he loses, he said he was ready to accept defeat and go home. He said this man has gone through hell as President Uhuru Kenyatta’s deputy. He said that even though it is said the best quality of gold is deduced from fire, the fire to make him better has been very intense in Jubilee.
President Uhuru Kenyatta during a France-Kenya business forum.
Photo credit: PSCU
2) President Uhuru Kenyatta. The Deputy President referred to him as his good friend whom he helped win the presidency in 2013 and 2017. He said he was not ready to be dragged into discussing his boss in the media. He said he worked well with the President between 2013 and 2017, before the substantive DP became the segregated, demeaned and humiliated deputy.
Turkish man Harun Aydin.
Photo credit: Pool
3) Harun Aydin: This Turkish man is in the spotlight because he was included in the delegation that was to accompany Dr Ruto to Kampala to consult with the Yoweri Museveni government. Dr Ruto was barred from leaving Kenya allegedly by the President. Mr Aydin has since been branded a terrorist suspect whose presence in the country is under interrogation.
Dr Ruto termed the whole fiasco as “nonsense, stupidity and foolish”. He said the Turkish Embassy had since issued a statement saying Mr Aydin is a holder of a valid work permit issued by the government of Kenya, is an investor and contributes to economic development. Dr Ruto said “that is how we are destroying Kenya by dragging political nonsense even to investors said to be close to me”.
ODM leader Raila Odinga addresses supporters in Migori Town on August 1, 2021.
Photo credit: Tonny Omondi | Nation Media Group
4) Raila Odinga: The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) boss expected to be Dr Ruto’s main competitor for the presidency received his share of interest. Dr Ruto wanted him to commit himself publicly that if he loses the 2022 contest he will concede. “I want him to commit himself that he will not swear himself again and launch a wave of violence in trading centres,” he said. He said he is sure Mr Odinga will never commit himself to unconditionally accept defeat.
Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju at a past event.
5) Raphael Tuju: This is the ruling Jubilee Party secretary-general. It happens that when Mr Tuju accompanied Mr Odinga last week to the home of Royal Media Services (RMS) owner Samuel Kamau (SK) Macharia for a political function, he publicly ridiculed the Hustler Nation’s “bottom-up” economic model. Mr Tuju referred to the model as “bottoms up” and wondered whether it means “matako ” (buttocks.) Dr Ruto hit back: “It’s no wonder that a recent survey depicted 71 percent of Kenyans as feeling the country is heading in the wrong direction. If a whole secretary-general of a ruling party can reduce a serious national economic debate to a debate about buttocks, then we must be headed in the wrong direction.”
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
6) Dr Fred Matiang'i. Dr Ruto believes the Interior CS is the “created” Deputy President as of now. “My duties were handed to Matiang'i and you know what has followed. I accepted and moved on. But these are the people being used to demean me. Okay, not that I will accept and bow out, that is a big no. But even if they don’t like me, they should respect the office of the Deputy President as a constitutional institution,” he said.
Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga during a past event.
Photo credit: Diana Ngila | Nation Media Group
7) Gladys Wanga. She is the Homa Bay woman rep and the first woman to be appointed chairperson of the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee. “We hear that Jubilee that has more than 200 MPs will be bought by ODM that has 70 MPs...We hear that the ruling party will be bought by the opposition and when government-allied MPs and senators are de-whipped for supporting me, their slots are given to opposition legislators...,” Dr Ruto said, adding, “Who thought, of all the people, Gladys Wanga wa matusi mengi (of insulting nature) would be chair of that committee that as tradition is reserved for government?”
Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
8) Rigathi Gachagua: The Mathira MP is fresh from court, where he was charged with corruption, accused of laundering money running into billions of shillings. Dr Ruto said Mr Gachagua’s woes are unrelated to the fight against corruption. “Since 2013, when he is said to have transacted in the deals under review, it is in 2021 that it is becoming an issue. We might be stupid but not in that magnitude as not to know this is silly politics.”
Former President Mwai Kibaki.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
9) Mwai Kibaki. Dr Ruto used the example of the third President of Kenya to demonstrate why Kenyans should not be afraid to trust him to become the fifth President against the backdrop of Jubilee’s perceived failures. Dr Ruto said Mr Kibaki is the best example of how a transformative governance legacy looks like. Yet, he said, Mr Kibaki was vice-president in a failed Daniel Moi administration. “Today, we do not judge and rate Kibaki on the track record of Moi’s rule but in his individual capacity as the third President.” He said if he wins the presidential contest, he will aspire to retire with a better rating than Mr Kibaki’s.
Inooro FM presenter Nyoxx wa Kata.
Photo credit: Pool
10) Nyoxx wa Kata: This was the host of the interview and by God’s name she must have wished the show lasted a decade. Dr Ruto ensured that she remained flattered right from sign-in to the sign-out minute of the show. He would seize every available moment to refer to her as “my dear sister Nyoxx, my lovely sister Nyokabi and my beautiful sister”. Perhaps that is the reason many felt that she mellowed and allowed Dr Ruto to take control of the show by responding to the interview questions on his own terms and to his desired effect.
