Political analyst Herman Manyora has warned Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto not to focus too much attention campaigning in the Mt Kenya region ahead of the 2022 General Election.
Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, the political analyst said Mt Kenya votes should just be a bonus for Ruto if he wants to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta who is expected to retire in August 2022.
“I have told (William) Ruto to look for votes outside Mt Kenya and let Mt Kenya votes be a bonus,” Manyora said.
The analyst likened the deputy president’s preoccupation with the Mt Kenya region to a man who places all his eggs in one basket.
According to Manyora, the Mt Kenya region will vote as directed by their kingpin and in this case, none is leaning towards the deputy president.
“The people of Mt Kenya will take direction from their leaders and their leaders are not these young men with Ruto. They will seek from their real leaders, top on the list of leaders Mt Kenya will listen to is President Uhuru Kenyatta,” he said.
Manyora further opined that William Ruto’s campaign is premised on the fact that the vote-rich Mt Kenya region is his, which is a very dangerous strategy.
“You remove Mt Kenya from William Ruto and he is not Ruto,” he added.
Two weeks ago, Manyora said Ruto will have the hard task of climbing the mountain and successfully getting votes from the region to boost his 2022 presidential ambition.
According to Manyora, William Ruto’s hope of clinching the presidency is highly dependent on whether or not he succeeds to get over 90 percent of the Kikuyu votes.
He holds that Ruto needs the central region more than Raila Odinga because the numbers he has in other parts of Kenya cannot guarantee him the presidency.
“Ruto’s presidential bid hangs on the numbers on the mountain, you chip away 30 percent and he is gone. The votes that Ruto will get elsewhere will not be sufficient if he loses the mountain. Therefore losing the mountain for him,” Herman Manyora said.
