That 2022 politics will be one of its kind is in no doubt. However, to Deputy President William Ruto, the coming elections mirror a battle-field. He has assembled a war chest to deal with his national adversaries and corrivals in his home county of Uasin Gishu.
Top on the list is politician Zedekiah Kiprop Bundotich, a protuberant business mogul and philanthropist from Ainabkoi. Buzeki, as he is popularly known, ran for the Uasin Gishu gubernatorial seat in 2017 where he garnered 148,121 votes. The current Governor, Jackson Mandago had 193,606 votes.
A leaked document, Ref No: ODP16/PS/2021, from the office of the Deputy President, shows resolutions of a meeting where DP Ruto intends to employ a scorched-earth policy against Mr. Bundotich, whose growing influence in Uasin Gishu county is causing jitters in the amorphous Hustlers outfit.
Just like a resolute military general aims to destroy anything useful to the enemy in a war, DP Ruto is targetting the politician’s expansive Buzeki Enterprises and his reputation, with the aim of taming his growing sway in the North Rift region.
”We pinpointed that Mr Buzeki ,who doubles as the fiercest critic of DP Ruto in the county is the man with the highest probability of capturing the seat having come close to H.E Jackson Mandago in the 2017 elections.
”The purpose of this meeting is to issues direct instructions from H.E William Ruto that we should do all it takes to stop Mr Buzeki from succeeding Mr Mandago,” the document reads in part.
However, what is the genesis Buzeki phobia inside William Ruto’s camp? After throwing his hat in the ring in 2017 to unseat outgoing Governor Jackson Mandago, North Rift politics took a dramatic turn. Unlike other politicians in the region, Buzeki is self-made and matched the DP’s muscle.
Buzeki has been a marked man since. He poses a serious threat to William Ruto’s dominance in the Rift. This was seen in the chaotic Jubilee 2017 primaries where the DP openly backed Mandago, who polled 120, 000 votes. Buzeki scooped 84, 000 votes despite heavy manipulation from Ruto’s wing of the party.
”DP Ruto is clear in his mind that cabals of power barons are determined to frustrate his presidential bid and they will stop at nothing until they stop him. And one of their schemes is to embarrass him Uasin Gishu County,” the indenture continues.
In the coming days, Hustler nation’s propaganda machine will embark on a strong mudslinging campaign against Mr. Buzeki in Uasin Gishu County and the entire Rift Valley region. The campaign, bankrolled from DP Ruto’s Karen office intends to spread negative information about Mr. Kiprop Bundotich, to dent his reputation and discredit him in the region.
”Focus on Buzeki Enterprises. Record Employees expose the enterprises and use bloggers to trend the recordings on social media. The strategy is to sell Mr. Buzeki as a suppressor of his own employees and totally
against Kalenjin nation.”
The meeting was a follow-up of a similar one in September last year, convened by Stephen Sang and Kipchumba Murkomen.
