William kipchirchir samoei arap Ruto is without a doubt the greatest political paradox of post-independence Kenya.
He is a champion of his country’s democracy; he was mentored by its sincerest dictator. He is a child of those despotic times; a rebel against them. He stands in the pulpit to condemn ethnic loyalties; his career balances on his manipulation of the Kalenjin vote. He is a fraud and a traitor; he’s a democrat and a leader. He is the elixir in the veins of Kenyan politics; he’s Moi’s most enduring legacy.
I write with that awe that someone staring at Frankenstein’s monster would probably feel. Ruto, a creation of Moi’s politically intuitive imagination to gain his own ends, has risen to the higher echelons of the Kalenjin top-brass; a feat that is nothing short of meteoric, praise-worthy and severely chill-inspiring.
Ruto is ambitious and at a relatively young age he has managed to secure mention in the deeply satirical tragic-comedy that is Kenya’s history. I in no way mean to vilify him for his aspirations. He has also managed to romanticize the Kenyan plot, for there’s something whirlwind about a Sambu village boy gaining the favour of the president. The poet in me worships him.
But Ruto is a dangerous man. He lives in times where self-assertion (to any extent) is the accepted formula for political success. Behind his disarming smile is a silent ruthlessness. He is that blend of man who would have made Machiavelli both deeply horrified and greatly impressed. And despite his coaxingly rosy dreams for the future are the indelible exploits of his past….
Being an old boy of the ‘Youth for KANU 2000’ school, there was something hilariously ironic about the din raised by him over the December 2007 elections. The very man once appointed ‘Director of Elections’ by Moi for matters of …er…political expediency.
He features prominently in the scandals lining up in quick and alarming succession both from the Moi era and past it. The Nyayo connection is something he can never shake off. Angloleasing, Goldenberg- there are enough cases pending due to injunctions and other technicalities.
He is widely seen as having orchestrated in the ’92 and ’97 clashes and recently the Waki report where he is accorded notable mention. Ruto, MP for Eldoret North where Felician Kabuga MAY or may not have been allegedly residing once; here where the worst of the machete wielding took place- something that Kabuga knows more than a little about. No implications here, just a ground break in the field of the blatantly obvious. A leaked ODM strategy paper of the ’07 campaigns contains odious truths- if so proved- of an exclusionist campaign with ethnic cleansing as a last resort- Headed by him.
His subtle passes coloured by some rather overt gestures at the presidency should more alarm than excite us. He is a fiery proponent of the parliamentary system. That scares me. But the Kenyan populace, being what it is, innately whimsical and capricious, is hailing him as a political messiah of sorts. That surely makes a case for him being a ‘Teflon’ politician. – Nothing sticks to him.
He will survive every major scandal thrown his way. He will wade his way through the murk and still come out squeaky clean. Sometimes logic…common decency are at the mercy of history. ‘Sometimes history decides’
Already the political sphere is abuzz with news of a Ruto-Uhuru merger that, if it lasts to Election Day, promises a substantive shift in loyalties- a paradigm of politics. Perhaps this is his true talent; this ability to realign and continually re-invent himself. From a Moi errand boy under the self-proclaimed professor, to the lifeblood of the opposition- the young turk who was a symbol of the change that was proving so elusive- and now a warrior of the people; all fronts on which Uhuru has failed miserably. As a politician, William Ruto is that evolutionary breed of cockroach designed to survive a nuclear holocaust, and us all.
Controversy
William Ruto is currently on trial charged with defrauding the Kenya Pipeline Company of huge amounts of money through dubious land deals, but he has been out on bond. The Constutional Court suspended further hearing of the case due to complaints by Ruto that the prosecution was politically engineered.
Maize(Corn)Scandal-Anglo Maizing
In early 2009 after parliamentary debate on a maize scandal , Agriculture minister William Ruto was cleared of all the allegations directed at him by Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale (Public Accounts Committee Chairman) and not all the documents bearing the National Cereals and Produce Board seal that linked Mr Ruto to the illegal sale of maize were accepted by Parliament’s deputy speaker.
They included those from managers of the board allocating maize to some individuals allegedly on the strength of a call by Mr Ruto. Others included tables showing that the cereals board had in store 2.6 million bags of maize in June 2008 and those that allocated maize to companies and individuals that Dr Khalwale described as undeserving. Mr Ruto had informed the House that the maize in the stores at the time was 1.6 million bags. Mr Khalwale wanted to know what had happened to the one million bags. It also emerged that though Mr Ruto had announced reforms in which he claimed to have removed 14 of National and Cereals Board’s 17 managers, he at the same time appointed the managing director of a milling company allocated more than 600,000 bags of maize to NCPB’s board of trustees.Both the minister and the appointee when contacted denied any conflict of interest and said the appointment was in accordance with the law. William Ruto attributed the maize scandal allegations and claims of his involvement in corruption to the work of his “political enemies”
Basic Comments
In YK92 Ruto was first an errand boy for the elite (Bigmen sons and some University lecturers) that formed YK92. Due to his organisational skills he gained some prominence. Apart from Jirongo the Chair he was the only one to succeed in politics and in turn media/commentators/public have wrongly elevated his status in YK92.
A jobless graduate could not have been responsible for Goldenburg. Maybe he helped himself to some proceeds or distributed some.
He was not involved in 92 clashes. Unsubstantiated reports link the YK92 organization with sponsoring some violence. Why are people like Ken Ouko (Sec YK92), Ben Wakhungu and other prominent more senior officials not accused? Ruto was just an unknown spanner boy who was liked by the lazier privileged elitist officials. Ruto again seems a victim of his success by capturing Eldoret North seat. How he orchestrated 92 clashes is baffling…
97 clashes, Ruto was campaigning against Moi supported Chesire for parliament. He was unknown but managed to win. 97 clashes were concentrated in Molo and Burnt forest areas (unlike the more widespread 92 clashes) where Ruto was unknown, since he was busy trying to win an election in Eldoret North. How he orchestrated this is baffling…
PEV accusations are also based on falsehoods i.e. interviews that can be debunked as wild rumors e.g. wrong names, locations etc. The police, provincial administrators were Kikuyus who could not come up with evidence for any prosecution yet they were after Ruto.
Ruto was elected Director of Elections in 2002, when Raila etc were also elected officials of KANU. The KANU candidate lost.
Ruto has questionable land acquisition issues and government insurance contract issues which happened after 1998 which he should come clean on. What other leaders in Kenya should come clean on e.g. Goldenberg, Anglo-leasing, Ken-ren, Molasses, divesture in multinationals in the 60’s and 70’s where there was serious conflict of interest etc cannot be compared..
Call yourself a poet?..Think other adjectives would be more appropriate..can’t think of one word to describe a spreader of malicious falsehoods
