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Deputy President William Ruto may on the receiving end following his irreconcilable falling out with his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, but he is reaping more than he would ever have expected. Painted as a disloyal, conniving, arrogant and disrespectful deputy, Ruto is accumulating mileage in sympathy. This is, especially so, from people who would not have wanted to have anything to do with him.
The peak of Ruto’s troubles was last week’s removal of the elite General Service Unit (GSU) guards from his official home in the leafy Karen suburb of Nairobi and his Sugoi rural home in Uasin Gishu County. First, he was reported to have shed tears and stayed indoors following the arrival of Administration Police to replace the VIP protection GSU squad. Then he said it was okay and he did not mind having the APs protect him, after all. This, ironically enhancing the “bottoms-up” mantra that he has chosen for the race to succeed his boss in next year’s presidential race slated for April.
He is wallowing in publicity as all manner of people from the lowest to the highest discuss daily the merits or demerits of the so-called “Deep State” making life difficult for this man, who is unable to work with his boss. Remember, as the saying goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity. All mentions in the media aid a person’s cause, even if they momentarily put that fellow in a bad light.
The history of the deputy chief executive’s slot in the country has always been a tricky one. Ruto’s shunting away from executive power would have prompted him to bolt, but he has chosen to stay put. Knowing quite well that getting the ticket of the ruling Jubilee Party to pursue his presidential ambitions would be difficult, he acquired the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) after rebranding an old party.
Ruto’s new vehicle has picked up momentum after some victories in by-election; the most highly prized being the Kiambaa parliamentary seat in President Kenyatta’s Mt Kenya region backyard. It is raring to do.
Those who had imagined that Ruto would throw in the towel will be disappointed. He won’t go the way of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the country’s first Vice-President under founding Head of State Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
A copy of Jaramogi’s letter has been doing the rounds on social media. Jaramogi wrote on April 14, 1966: “Dear Mr President, you have not given any consideration to me as your number 2 in State matters. I have a conscience, and this, in fact, does prick me when I earn public money with no job to do. I consider this a waste of public money and I am worried lest the future generation questions my sincerity, when they would learn that I allowed myself to hold a sinecure post in the midst of poverty and misery in our country. With this realisation, I cannot continue to hold this position any longer and I hereby tender my resignation. Yours, Oginga Odinga.”
DP Ruto has stated categorically that he will not be going along that route and will wait for his opportune time to exit.
President Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Jaramogi’s son, have dared Ruto to quit, if he is uncomfortable serving in the government that he continues to criticise.
The President has said: “The honourable thing is that if you are not happy with it, step aside and allow those who want to move on to do so and take your agenda to the people you can’t have your cake and eat it.”
Of course, he meant that you can’t eat your cake and have it, a message that was forcefully echoed by ODM leader Raila.
Jaramogi’s successor, Joseph Murumbi, resigned from the hot seat in November 1966, reportedly because of poor health. This ushered Daniel arap Moi’s long tenure until he ascended to the presidency following his boss’s death in 1978. He had endured humiliation, doggedly hanging on as junior fellows allied to President Kenyatta2 harassed him.
Mwai Kibaki was the Vice-President for 10 years from 1978 to 1988, and having fallen out with President Moi resigned to form the opposition Democratic Party.
Dr Josphat Karanja, who was the fifth Vice-President between 1988 and 1989, resigned to avoid a vote of no confidence in Parliament. He had fallen out with his boss.
Also hounded out of office was Prof George Saitoti, who was the Vice-President from 1989 to 1998, and was left out in the cold, only to be reappointed in 1999, after the position had been vacant for several months.
The 2010 Constitution repackaged the number two slot holder’s title as the Deputy President. He would come in as the President’s running mate, and not easy to remove through the sack. This is the security of tenure that Ruto continues to milk today, declaring that he will never resign. His first tenure from 2012 to 2017 went smoothly, but his second and final five-year term has been a nightmare he hopes will end when he strides into State House next year as the fifth President since independence.
The post Ruto Stays Put Defying Calls to Resign appeared first on LitKenya.
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