The big hope for Ruto and his noisy mob was that Uhuru will keep quiet and not publicly support the Azimio team for the 2022 General Elections. That train left the station a long time ago. Uhuru is squarely in the ballot box on August 8, 2022, and there is not a damn thing anybody can do to stop that.
Secondly, if William Ruto was asked today who he would prefer to be his ally in this year’s election Ruto would jump at any chance to be with Uhuru. Ruto is not stupid enough to think the Uhuru Kenyatta will have no influence in the August 2022 elections.
William Ruto knows Uhuru Kenyatta will have a big influence in that election. The same Ruto also knows that there will be no reconciliation between him and Uhuru as far as the election is concerned.
But the last thing William Ruto needs is some loudmouth idiots like Oscar Sudi attacking President Uhuru Kenyatta on his behalf. They were doing that earlier on but it seems Ruto told them to shut up and leave that job of abusing the president to Musalia Mudavadi and hopefully the Mt. Kenya group in UDA.
But a lot of times it is very hard to tame wild creatures like this Oscar dude.
This was Oscar Sudi’s statement to the president.
”My message to the President! Heri mwenye anasimama Juu ya gari ama mwenye anasimama Juu ya Hennessy na Jack Daniels? Usituchokoze na tulikua tumenyamaza!”
It is one thing for internet crazies and Twitter warriors to be abusing President Uhuru Kenyatta as some kind of a drunkard and thinking that is an effective weapon for them. It is a whole different story to publicly insult the president and think you are making some political progress.
Read: February 2022 is critical for Uhuru and Raila’s Azimio coalition party
Insulting Uhuru Kenyatta wouldn’t just turn off a lot of Kikuyus against the faltering UDA make-believe party but it will turn off a lot of Kenyans who actually respect President Uhuru Kenyatta. It is a losing platform and Ruto is welcome to grab on to that as his last hope.
Kapseret Mp Oscar Sudi has hit back at President Uhuru Kenyatta over his remarks about politicians focusing on campaigns instead of serving Kenyans.
In what seemed to be an indirect attack at his deputy William Ruto, Uhuru slammed politicians for continuously faulting his administration over performance.
“Kazi tunafanya. Kazi haifanywi juu ya magari, inafanywa ofisini,” said Uhuru during the official opening of the Health Workforce Conference at Sarova Whitesands Mombasa on Monday.
Loosely translated, “We are working. Work is not done in political rallies. It is done in offices.”
In his response, Sudi said Uhuru should know that he was elected as a result of people campaigning for him on top of vehicles.
“Kuanzia 2002, ulisaidiwa, ukasukumwa hawakua wanasimama ndani ya gari. Walisimama juu ya gari ndio wewe ukae kwa hio ofisi huko,” he said in a video.
Loosely translated, “From 2002 you were helped into the Presidency by people who campaigned on top of vehicles and not in them”.
Sudi who is Ruto’s ally also went on to accuse the president of stalling his succession process.
The president has in the past accused Ruto of dwelling on campaigns instead of focusing on the Jubilee agenda.
While in Mombasa for the launch of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program, the President did not shy from attacking his Deputy.
Uhuru, who pitched a tent in Mombasa just a day after Ruto’s coastal tour, also took to the podium and took a swipe at his deputy for non-stop politicking.
He dismissed reports that ODM leader Raila Odinga is his project even as he maintained that he has a right to choose whoever he will vote for.
“He is not my project as it is being said, but I will cast my vote to the person that I trust will bring change to Kenya,” he said.
He revisited his warnings to the DP and his camp over early politics saying the team refused to heed.
“Niliwambia hii mambo ya kutanga tanga, wakasema niwache wao watange tange. I let them be, what do they want me to say now?” posed the President.
Loosely translated, “I had warned him about crisscrossing the country for early campaigns but they said they won’t stop..”
Uhuru added that he does not have an issue with his deputy running for the presidency.
“I do not have an issue with anyone’s ambition. I had only told them that there is time for everything. Time for politics and time to do the work. They chose politics from morning to evening,” Uhuru said.
The head of state said this year he will not shy away from politics.
There are those within the Ruto camp who already know that Ruto needs to do something to convince the Kikuyu folks that he is with them. They are asking Ruto to pick up a Kikuyu running mate right now.
Read: Mudavadi’s nightmares are now in UDA and that is now Ruto’s headache
Ruto cannot do that because he has to keep fooling Mudavadi that there is some kind of partnership between UDA and ANC. Ruto needs to keep building the myth of something called Kenya Kwanza.
For Ruto to do that he has to pick Mudavadi as his running mate. If Ruto does that the Kikuyu vote is gone and he is dead. If Ruto doesn’t choose Mudavadi he can forget any votes from Western and the Kikuyu folks will still be pissed with him particularly if Uhuru Kenyatta is actively involved in Azimio with Raila Odinga.
Quite frankly at this point, William Ruto has to choose his poison. That is never the best of choices under any circumstances. It is worse when everything is on the line.
Adongo Ogony is a Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada
