When President William Ruto walked on the front of the State House the night goons and criminals invaded and breached Parliament on June 25, 2024, he was clear that political stability was crucial in safeguarding Kenya’s democracy.
He had, without an iota of doubt, reiterated his commitment to safeguard our national symbols and sanctity of the State within the Constitutional provision.
On the other end, his then Deputy was waxing whimsical about the National Intelligence and almost celebrating in tone, the eventualities that had bedevilled a hitherto well meaning peaceful Gen-Z demos, with politically sponsored Parsons and criminals infiltrating it.
Yet, the statement from Mombasa by Rigathi Gachagua minutes after his boss spoke, raised eyebrows on the basis of protocol and sheer loyalty. It marked a beginning of the relationship between a boss and his deputy whose choose as a running mate in 2022 elections raised dust as a more qualified deputy in the name of Prof Kindiki Kithure was overlooked.
The divorce was imminent and the time of reckoning came in October last year as Rigathi’s political fortune was trashed in a well-choreographed impeachment process in Parliament.
The man from Mathira in Nyeri had no chance of survival for his goose was cooked and served by the eloquent and stinging MP for Kibwezi West Mutuse Eckomas Mwengi laid bare Rigathi’s path to the political guillotine machine.
Armed with video evidence portraying Rigathi’s repulsive obsession with Murima interests at the expense of the rest of the country, coupled with allegations of disinheriting his brother’s widows and orphans, the writing was on the wall.
When the moment for the impeachment vote came, it was a thunderous loss including majority votes from his Mt Kenya backyard.
Rigathi’s was a case of a snake that bites others’ tails that ended up biting its own yet the poison is the same.
The Holy Scriptures in James 3:5-6 we are told thus; “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.”
Since his ouster, the former District Officer in the era preceding the 2010 Constitution, has since retreated back to his tribal cocoon with pronouncements of reviving the genocidal GEMA tribal outfit.
In an attempt to deodorize it, he has enlisted the services of the former Vice President Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka with a feeble, if any, impact.
In his desperate state, Rigathi and his tribal cabal have replaced the Association in GEMA with Akamba. Needless to mention, during the Saba Saba demos Machakos, Mwingi and Kitui was relatively peaceful without any incidences.
Of course, there was massive robbery with violence in Nyeri, Muranga, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Meru and the treasonous acts of torching police stations in the previous riots in Mt Kenya.
The Murima funded social media can’t even call out Rigathi for his unashamed address of Kenyans living in the US in his local dialect.
This vile in Mt Kenya might be a sign that UDA as a party might have had the opportunity cost of shedding a section of support from this region but it’s also an indicator that President Ruto has gained massive backing in hitherto opposition strongholds of Nyanza and Western. This may also include Coast and Northern Kenya that had voted ODM Party Leader and former Prime Minister nearly to a man.
It is not lost many a political observer that the opposition hotspots in past agitations were the most peaceful during the recent riots.
To date, it is un believable that in spite of President Ruto replacing Rigathi with a man from Mt Kenya, a section of is Agikuyu community has believed that the seat has actually gone out of the region.
The question that begs therefore is: Isn’t Meru, Tharaka, Tigania, Mbeere all part of Mt Kenya? Or is it a question of George Orwell’s Animal Farm where there are animals that are more equal than other animals?
Isn’t it true that the treasury has been held by men from other ethnic origins other than the Agikuyu? Including the current Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Chris Okemo, Francis Maskhalia and Chris Obure, Ukur Yatani and Henry Rotich?
Why is it that when a perceived Luo in the name of Mbadi is appointed, then it has caused so much dust? Why is it that when Opiyo Wandayi becomes Energy Cabinet Secretary is draws so much venom from Morima leadership?
Or is it the 1969 Oaths as confessed by Martha Karua in that trending video that had gone viral? The Oaths that were taken in the thick of night with blood drinking rituals to boot that had bound the Agikuyu never to allow the “Mera” from ever taking political reigns of the country?
Well, with these appointments that his given the cabinet the face of Kenya, President William Ruto is increasingly gaining admiration and loyalty from the most unexpected quarters.
This coupled with his managing of both economic and social affairs will, for a certain, guarantee him a second term in the 2027 election.
For beginners, Agikuyu votes are as per the last election only 17 per cent of the votes. The reality is that no Kenyan single community has a majority to seize power without the support of others. This will remain for the foreseeable future.
So, what are the odds for President Ruto coming to the 2027 elections? Having beaten his closet rival Raila by just 200,000 votes in the 2022 election, Raila’s support for Ruto is not only significant, it is massive.
It is no brainer that those who love Raila aka Baba love him deeply and will take the direction or where he will direct them to take. In this regard, Luo, Luhya, Turkana, Mijikenda, Somalia, Rendile, Burji, a great part of Akamba, Kuria, Maasai, Samburu, Pokomo, Bajuni, Asian, Swahili, Teso, Elchamus, Diaspora, among others will vote for Ruto should Raila make a “Ruto Tosha” move on 2027.
This is evident because Rigathi is incorrigible when it comes to his tribal favoritism that has alienated him from the rest of Kenyans. Very few, if any, community outside Mt Kenya will travel with him this journey.
It doesn’t matter whether he endorses former interior minister Fred Matiang’i, Kalonzo Musyoka or Joseph Maraga. Kenyans will not want to be associated with a man preoccupied by his community alone.’
Ruto’s chances of a second term is also grounded on his policies and should such projects as the extension of the SGR from Naivasha to Malaba via Kisii and the dualling of Rironi Mau Highway materialize, he will be a hard nut to crack.
