A crocodile whose ailing mother was in dire need of a monkey’s heart lured an unsuspecting primate onto its back under the pretext of ferrying the monkey to the bountiful guava tree on the other side of the croc-filled river. It was in the middle of the river that the menacing croc disclosed its scheme to the now trapped monkey. “I really have to do this or else my mother will die,” the remorseless crocodile stated. The quick-thinking monkey feigned sympathy for the croc and promised to donate its heart to the croc for the sake of the ailing mother. The catch was that the croc had to take the monkey back to the mango tree where the monkey lived to enable the monkey retrieve the heart since monkeys never walk around with their hearts in their bodies. The crocodile fell for this baloney and the monkey escaped. The trap failed.
We have another monkey that has been trapped time and time again, unlike the crocodile’s cheeky friend who escaped from just one trap. The first trap for our monkey was the handshake. That Raila Odinga approached Ruto first to ask for space in government is nonsense because Raila knew too well that it was Uhuru Kenyatta’s government. The trap had been discussed before. The catch was for him to shun Raila who would then be welcomed by Uhuru thus painting Ruto as the greedy and unaccommodating one. It worked, but not entirely as planned.
In the narrow planning of the schemers, the handshake was to decimate Ruto way back in 2018. However that never happened. Like the proverbial phoenix, the fellow emerged from the ashes, hit the ground running like he had no time, and stitched up whatever wounds he had suffered. He showed his traitorous boss utmost respect, appealed to the people when it was right and necessary, and camped in Mt. Kenya.
With his influence rising against conventional wisdom, there was some frustration. What is going on? The fellows asked. Pundits and media conmen who had been paid to run their mouths and shove Ruto into oblivion were flummoxed. The man they were trying to bury was more than alive.
Then came the senior provincial administration attack dogs who were unleashed on Ruto, systematically cautioning juniors not to show up in his meetings. Again, Ruto took it in stride and behaved like it was not happening. To the annoyance of those who had suggested it as the ultimate killer move, Ruto gained more currency and scored more political points.
The next phase was the uncoordinated attempt to revive the 200/2008 post-election violence cases. One tragedy with robotic government officers is that in a bid to impress their masters, they overzealously scramble all sorts of responses and initiatives to try and solve any problem they believe is torturing their boss’s mind. This is how the PEV case resurrection shame came about, leading a fuming President Uhuru to rebuke DCI Boss George Kinoti for engaging in risky activities “without thinking.” It was an overreach. Once again, Ruto emerged on top, without even trying.
Then came the common song, corruption.
There was an attempt to paint Ruto as the only corrupt senior politician, with bloggers getting paid handsomely to distribute write-ups and diagrams purporting to show how Ruto has embezzled public money. This too came a cropper for one major reason-the politicians who are older than Ruto are all corrupt, with others having grabbed more land and stolen more money than him.
Kenyans are a fair people, and you can expect them to remind you that, “he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.”
The “corruption” song was also neutralized by the shameful theft of masks and money meant to cushion Kenyans from the ravaging Covid-19, stealing that took place with Ruto practically out of government, and therefore not involved at all.
With all these having failed, focus shifted to the handshake, and its baby, the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). The not-so-hidden agenda was to create more executive slots, cobble up a huge alliance, and swing to power in one swoop thus pushing Ruto to the opposition.
Whether it is the will of God, the alignment of the stars, or the roll of the dice, BBI or reggae seems to have died, again, as Ruto had warned, the planned power grab seems to be in doubt, and once again, Ruto is apparently on top. He is the candidate to beat in 2022’s presidential contest. The man who was supposed to be done and dusted in 2018 is still around, stronger than ever before.
A few other occurrences along the way have added to the vexation and multiplication of malice and hatred for Ruto. He has formed a party that has gone ahead to humiliate the party he was kicked out of in several by-elections, most of them in the backyard of the president.
With nearly every trick in the bowl having failed to deliver desired results, anxiety has gripped the schemers, frustration is in the air, and anger is brewing. Cannibalization is beckoning for we can expect them to start blaming and fighting each other.
It is a moment of utter desperation, and the measures are now desperate.
The first desperate move is to try and have lawyer Paul Gicheru implicate Ruto at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the lawyer’s case of witness tampering. Serious legal minds the world over already know that this won’t work at all. Major weaknesses include the absence of evidence to support the claim of tampering and the coincidental deep entrenchment Ruto has achieved in the ICC. His former lawyer, Mr. Karim Khan, is now the Chief Prosecutor, and inasmuch as he may have recused himself from the Paul Gicheru case, he is still the don of the court, and Ruto is his former client. And possibly a friend. Need I say more?
The Mt. Kenya people who live in Rift Valley will forever thank their kin in Central province such as Moses Kuria, Alice Wahome, Ndindi Nyoro, Kimani Ichungwa, among others for paying for their insurance simply by keeping a gentleman’s agreement that Uhuru Kenyatta made to Ruto in both 2013 and 2017.
One man who suffers the most as Ruto escapes the traps is Raila Odinga because he now effectively becomes the hated baby of the system who Kenyans will be tempted to crucify.
This complicates Raila’s journey given the potential voting pattern shift whereby with a Ruto on the ballot, Teso and Sabot votes in Busia might not go to Raila as usual, and the Coast Province Counties will most likely swing more away from Raila than they did when Uhuru was Raila’s opponent. If Ruto keeps the Rift Valley and Central blocks like he seems to be doing, and makes these gains in these other former Raila strongholds, the election is as good as done.
Let us chill for the next trap. I am sure it is being cooked somewhere.
Onchari Oyieyo.
Centre for African Progress (CAP).
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