For the Deputy President William Ruto, the question is, for how long will he plough on with his political ambitions amidst the sustained onslaught from an administration that now treats him as an outsider. And with a deputy president who he cannot sack, what options are available to the President in this stare-down?
After the President called on his deputy to resign, and Dr Ruto’s response that he was going nowhere, things moved fast and the security at his official and private homes were downgraded with the Administration Police taking over from the elite general service unit (GSU) personnel.
Meanwhile, in a coordinated fashion, Cabinet secretaries have also taken to attacking the deputy president in campaign-style public events. With a ban on political rallies, the DP has been holding most meetings at his official residence in Karen where he hosts delegations of his supporters, as he has had no official roles assigned to him. His other preferred venues to pass his political message are funeral and church services.
It has now come down to a battle of nerves between Mr Kenyatta and Dr Ruto, with no side willing to cede ground. The complete breakdown of relations between the two mirror that of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and then vice-president Atiku Abubakar. They, too, started as bosom friends occupying the two highest offices in the land but by the time the term of their administration ended, they were politically estranged.
“For the last three years since the handshake, the DP and his office have consistently been undermined and humiliated by President Kenyatta and his government yet they were elected on a joint ticket. Let them finish their term and DP Ruto shall seek presidency of this Republic,” said Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei.
Allies of the deputy president, reiterating his stance that he “neither has space to retreat nor the luxury to surrender”, say that resignation is an option off the table because it will be like Dr Ruto is yielding to his tormentors.
“He will stay put because he has not done anything wrong. He enjoys constitutional protection and parliament cannot impeach him as he has done nothing wrong. The DP cannot resign because that would aid his enemies. He has no time to gift his rivals anything. In any event, he cannot resign from a government he helped create,” Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata says.
In an interview with top editors early in the week, President Kenyatta had called on his deputy to resign if he was dissatisfied with his administration.
“I have an agenda that I was elected on, and that work must continue, and it would really be the honourable thing that if you are not happy with it that you would actually step aside and allow those who want to move on, and then take your agenda to the people. Which is what happens in any normal democracy, because you can’t have your cake and eat it,” he said.
Aside from the assertion by Mr Kang’ata that resigning would be aiding his rivals, such a move would be catastrophic to his 2022 ambitions: as deputy president, he enjoys many privileges that have helped him to expand his support base and sustain his campaign. As an ex-deputy president, such privileges would not be there, says political commentator Dismas Mokua. Moreover, building his international profile could be affected.
“Security and logistics is one of the biggest campaign budget item and this bill is now picked by Moraa (the taxpayer). Upon resignation, he has to organise his security and start paying for his logistics. Karen and Sugoi delegations enjoy government hospitality and the bill is taken care of by Moraa. This is an expensive item especially if one is hosting delegates on a daily basis,” said Mr Mokua.
Fear of losing power over the civil service and influence in the private sector could also be informing Dr Ruto’s rejection of resignation calls despite continuing to earn without doing any work.
With resignation off the table, what remains of interest heading into 2022 is how he will navigate the traps being set for him while effectively running his campaign.
According to Mr Kang’ata, one of the ways of navigating the traps and staying on the course is to make it clear to their supporters that they are not in competition with the President.
“It would be foolhardy to engage him head on when he will not be on the ballot. Therefore, no matter the pressure, our eyes are on the ball,” said Mr Kang’ata.
“The President work has not been curtailed by DP. The President’s budget has passed without any hindrance. His projects are going on without any hitch,” added.
While downgrading of DP’s security is unfortunate and illegal, he says the ‘Hustler Nation’ won’t mind. Dr Ruto’s Chief of Staff Ken Osinde on Thursday wrote to the Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai regarding the withdrawal of the elite GSU personnel who have been replaced by officers from the Administration Police.
“Given that the Deputy President is elected to perform duties of a constitutional office, any lapse in His Excellency, the Deputy President’s personal security compromises the exercise of the constitutional functions of that office,” Mr Osinde complained in the letter.
For the Deputy President, his aides and allies say they will continue getting their message to President Kenyatta by going for his handshake partner ODM’s Raila Odinga and One Kenya Alliance (OKA) leaders Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi, Gideon Moi and Moses Wetang’ula.
“They have been the medium for the President’s messages to the DP. We shall also return the favour and use the same medium to reach the President,” a close aide told Sunday Nation.
Under the 2010 constitution, the President and the deputy are elected on the same ticket and unlike the pre-2010 constitution where the vice-president was vulnerable, the president cannot sack his deputy.
In the Ruto case, the state has isolated him and he carries an empty title of deputy president with no official roles assigned to him. However, after removing his allies in the leadership positions in the ruling Jubilee Party, Dr Ruto could be the next target of the purge.
But his allies and supporters say removing him as deputy party leader of Jubilee means nothing “because DP does not intend to run on a Jubilee ticket.”
He has practically decamped to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) through which has sponsored candidates in recent by-elections, many of which his candidates have won over Jubilee Party.
Meanwhile, after the change in the police security who guard his official and private homes, there are reports that the government now intends to block the large delegations the DP has been meeting at his official residence. The argument is that the Karen residence is government installation should not be used for partisan political activities.
In his letter to the Inspector General Mutyambai, Mr Osinde hinted at the former GSU guards of declining to carry out “unlawful instructions to compromise the security of the Deputy President”, thus the decision to replace them with the APs.
According to Mr Mokua, however much the State goes for the DP, it is important that as long as he remains the Deputy President, he should be accorded all the respect and privileges consistent with the Office of the Deputy President.
For now, it is a question of who will blink first between the President and his deputy. The President has taken on the task of organising the opposition leaders to agree on a single candidate to face off with his deputy. On the other hand, Dr Ruto is working to prove to his estranged boss who between them has the votes and the support of Kenyans.
