Ruto: One tenacious political survivor

By Juma Kwayera

Eldoret North MP William Ruto first ‘real’ money was made in insurance brokerage. When the dust settled on the 1992 hotly contested election in which he campaigned for former President Moi together with his erstwhile bosom friend who chaired a political brokerage outfit known as YK’92, Ruto formed a real estate agency with a Kalenjin name that translated as “I have fled and left them with their teeth/mouth open”.

The inclination to leave allies in awe is one of Ruto’s multiple trademarks, a streak he maintains to-date since he ventured into business at the age of 25.

His contemporaries at the Kapsabet High School where he did ‘A’ level, recall him as a reticent bookworm and deeply religious student. It is the same trait that he carried when he was a petty trader at Maili Tisa railway-road junction selling chicken and eggs, just outside Eldoret town in Eldoret-Webuye road. His rise in less than two decades from abject poverty to a life of power and riches is the stuff of fairy tales.

Pork-barrel politics

After graduating from University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Science degree (Botany), Ruto ventured into politics where he got a chance to rub shoulders with the high and mighty.

In his earlier political life, Ruto quit Kanu and formed United Democratic Movement (UDM) with Cyrus Jirongo, Kipruto arap Kirwa and Fred Amayo, but later ditched his friends and went back to Kanu where Moi appointed him an assistant minister in the Office of the President where he worked closely with the then PS in charge of Provincial Administration and Internal Security Zakayo Cheruiyot.

Stewed in pork-barrel politics, Ruto understands how to keep supporters in good humour, but, like many politicians, that does not necessarily mean he maintains friends, unless they serve his immediate political needs.

When they parted ways with Jirongo, this is how the Lugari MP described his erstwhile sidekick: “Ruto practices politics of the end justifies the means. For as long as he has his way, nothing else counts.” That sounds like a Machiavellian principle. Not that Jirongo himself is much different though.

Ruto’s grit and gift of the garb is an asset that paved the way for him to be one of the ODM representatives to take part in the mediation talks that resolved the post-election standoff with PNU when each party was claiming the presidency.

Once the grand coalition was formed, the restless Ruto started a fresh tussle within his party. Even after he was elected deputy party leader, the MP did not feel comfortable under the large-than-life shadow of Raila Odinga.

He technically bolted from ODM when he began cavorting with PNU. The newfound union with PNU granted him insurance against expulsion from the party, besides managing to hold onto his ministerial portfolio until 2011 when he was forced to resign after charges of crimes against humanity by the ICC.

Biggest task

Ruto was an asset to President Kibaki in his endless wrangles with Raila over control of Government systems.

He has managed to establish a solid political base, which comes in handy when he is cutting political deals. By the same measure, he has reinforced perceptions that he is a political broker who uses the tribal support he enjoys to feather his nest.

When he agreed to be Uhuru’s running mate, some of his supporters opposed to the alliance with Uhuru told him: “Achicha wendi kityo (you go to Uhuru alone)”.

So now the big question is: will Ruto’s grit, tenacity and sheer determination to survive any adversity will see him deliver the Rift Valley vote to Uhuru or has he lost his mojo?