The battle for the August 9 presidential election is shaping up to what can be termed a two-horse race between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto.
Since the March 18 handshake between President Uhuru and the ODM leader Raila Odinga, the animosity between the president and his deputy has been developing at a high rate.
The recent declaration by the president that he will actively participate in shaping his succession politics has, without doubt, raised jitters within Deputy President William Ruto’s camp.
The move by President Uhuru to take the battle with his deputy head-on is by all measures shaping the 2022 presidential race.
While hosting the Jubilee MPs at State House during the Jubilee Parliamentary Group (PG) meeting the head of state told his troops it is time for politics.
During the launch of the Annual Universal Healthcare Conference in Mombasa on Monday, February 7, the president also warned DP Ruto to be ready for a political battle.
“Now the time for politicking is here, you will hear from us. There is time to work and time to play politics; now everyone is free, those who started before and those of us who are joining the fray,” Uhuru told a gathering at the coastal town.
The decision by President Uhuru to publicly declare that Raila Odinga is his preferred candidate has rattled the DP Ruto the wrong way.
Since the Presidents pronouncement, DP Ruto has been taking the president head-on, sometimes daring him for a political contest.
Wiliam Ruto labels Raila a puppet of President Uhuru ahead of the 2022 presidential election
This has forced the DP Ruto’s strategist to adjust their messaging, currently, his brigades are hitting out at the president more than at the former prime minister.
Speaking in Kakamega on Saturday, February 12, DP Ruto lashed out at his boss for being hell-bent to influence his succession race.
“They are obsessed with managing their succession but I want to tell them that we are ready for that contest my friends, bring it on. Tuko tayari kabisa,” Ruto said.
The move by President Uhuru has also seen Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza brigade label the ODM leader as a puppet of the president saying he will be rejected the same way President Uhuru was rejected during the 2002 General Elections.
“I want to tell my friend, the president of Kenya, that the people of Kenya rejected a project 20 years ago. There is no way they can elect anybody’s puppet (in August 2022 presidential elections),” Ruto said in Bungoma recently.
“President Uhuru Kenyatta plans to succeed himself and sneak back into government as Raila’s running mate in this year’s elections. Kenyans must reject this,” Kakamega senator Cleophas Malala said.
The worry within the deputy president circle is because of the vote-rich region of Mt Kenya which the president is expected to give political directions.
Political analysts opine that the tension in Ruto’s camp emanates from the fact that President Uhuru’s body language and public statements, including declaring that the ‘time for politics has come’, carry immense political weight and could scuttle Ruto’s State House bid.
Political analyst Herman Manyora opines that Uhuru still holds sway in Mt Kenya and his deputy would have a rough time sustaining his lead until August.
“Uhuru Kenyatta is still the Kingpin of Mt Kenya and enjoys massive support and cannot be ignored. He doesn’t need to do a lot of campaigns because at the end of the day the people of Mt Kenya will listen to their leaders for direction, and Uhuru (Kenyatta) is the last man they are waiting to hear from,” said Manyora.
Communication strategist Mark Bichachi says Uhuru’s political standing in Mt Kenya is enough to cause Ruto sleepless nights.
“Will he (Ruto) be able to hold onto his supposed Mt Kenya support? Don’t forget that Uhuru commanded nearly 100% of the Mt Kenya region. If a person who had that many votes turns against you, what are you going to get?” he asks.
On February 25, the president will preside over the Jubilee Party National Delegates Conference, which is expected to ratify major decisions that solemnize their union with ODM.
This, according to political pundits, would mark the beginning of the end of Ruto’s political dominance in Mt Kenya.
“We shall soon hold our Jubilee NDC at KICC while the ODM will be holding theirs at Bomas of Kenya, we shall then converge at Nyayo stadium to announce our flagbearer,” Jubilee vice chair David Murathe said in Murang’a recently.
After leading the Jubilee NDC, President Uhuru is expected to convene Sagana 3, a gathering by Mt Kenya opinion leaders where the president is expected to explain to the region his decision to support Odinga and not his deputy.
“We will have a Sagana III meeting soon and the president is expected to explain to our people why he decided to work with Raila and not Ruto and where our interests are safe as a region and why. After that, I can assure you we will all speak in one voice just like we did during Sagana II that saw all the 10 counties endorse BBI despite Tanga Tanga maneuvers,” Kieni MP Kanini Kega states.
“We have a clear path and plan to popularize Raila in Mt Kenya and you will see that roadmap after the NDC,” says Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni.
As things stand now no one can sum up 2022 more than lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi who Twitted “I refuse to change my central thesis that the Presidential contest as of today is a two-horse race between DP RUTO and H.E UHURU!”
