After all the acrimony that
preceded President Uhuru Kenyatta's visit to Rift Valley last week, Deputy
President William Ruto now admit the claims by the great Jubilee alliance rebel
and Nandi Hills MP, Alfred Keter, that the URP wing was only fed by the
fragments of power in the coalition government are near-truths. He, the Deputy
President, recently assured the incited Rift Valley MPs that issues raised by
the youthful Nandi Hills MP are amicably settled. The big question is "Is
Ruto still playing his ODM departure tune?" Just before the historical and
massive exodus from ODM which was key to the downfall of of Raila's influence
in the Rift valley, Isaac Ruto severally criticized the Nyanza wing, led
by Raila Odinga, for giving their region a raw deal and frustrating their
people. But William Ruto, then minister for agriculture, was severally quoted
to be warning Isaac to stop creating a rift between him and RAO. It only came
to appear as the war of the damns when Ruto finally admitted that there were
irreconcilable differences in the ODM. This move by Keter could be a signal
that the Jubilee Government might not work together come 2017 but these are
just learned projections. We are all in terms of what an incumbent president is
capable of if the Nyayo era is anything to go by. It would be wise for Mr. Ruto
to maintain the status quo and let the son of Jomo rule for ten years while he
is busy winning friends in the government. He should project himself as a
friendly candidate and never be a hostile one, especially towards the Mt Kenya
Mafia and the entire region of the Kikuyu. This is a tribal country where
tribal arithmetic is core to access and maintain power. The notion that the
Kikuyu cannot vote for anyone else apart from their own will be put to test
then. At tis juncture its advisable to note no one tribe that does not vote for
their tribesman is in existence in this republic. In 2002 it would be
simplistic to say that the Luo voted for Kibaki; its only that they saw an
opportunity for Raila to grab the premiership once Kibaki was in power. The
Kisii have at one time voted for Nyachae and so did the Kamba. Proceeding, I
can freely advise Ruto o keep the Kikuyu close to power and dangle the carrot
come 2022, until then, he should hold his horses.
