DP Ruto accused of being in panic mode after sensing 2022 defeat

Opponents of Deputy President William Ruto are now accusing him of using the shadowy figures as a scapegoat after sensing defeat.

The 2018 handshake between Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta was perhaps the first signal that the 2022 succession would not go according to plan for William Ruto and since then, the deputy president has cut the image of a lone predator hunting for prey after being abandoned by the pride, often seen in his Karen residence hosting delegations as he attempts to craft an alternative path to state house.

In the second boldest attack against unnamed faceless individuals infamously known as the system or deep state, Ruto on Tuesday accused the group of erecting roadblocks on his State House bid and dared them to bring it on.

“Ati iko watu watatuibia kura hata mkipiga kura namna gani, kuna watu wamekaa mahali fulani wataamua, hawa watu tunawangojea hiyo deep state tunangojea, hiyo system tunangojea, watakuja na system sisi tunakuja na watu na mwenyezi mungu,” said DP Ruto.

But his fiercest critics now claim he is a man in panic, that for years he has gladly devoured the fruits of the system, and that he is only crying foul now that the shoe is on the other foot.

“These people he has been talking about have been here and around, it’s only now that he has realised that there are people in Kenya, before he thought its only the system that can make him the president…our desire as a party as a movement and a party is to move the contest away from the system to the people and now when we get people like William Ruto now coming to terms that it is the people who decide who becomes the President of Kenya we shall be very happy people,” said Minority Whip Junet Mohamed.

Ruto’s defenders however insist that the cards are now on the table. They say they don’t need the system but only what they call the force of the people behind them.Upsound…

“We have always gone to the people in order to get the victory we have sought, it’s also a wake up call to the people in ODM, they seem to have tried to go to the people and failed and they think and told a lie and believed it that elections are rigged and that is how we won,” stated Soi MP Caleb Kositany.

Analysts agree that the deputy president has a reason to be concerned, Javas Bigambo avers that  the deep state here is not just the extent to which the incumbent will be in favour of a presidential candidate but the extent to which state resources including intelligence and security will be overtly or covertly used to influence the possible outcome.

“He (Ruto) may have been a party in the conduct of the 2017 election and he feels that the same maneaurvers may be used against him. There is the issue of anxiety and panic and wariness it’s also trying to pull the rug from the feet of the deep state to tell them he is aware of the tricks that could be played against him,” says political commentator Javas Bigambo.

The deep state in Kenya’s political circles is believed to have great influence on who takes up influential positions, they not only bankroll individuals they support but also make decisions that influence governance and development initiatives.

Analysts have previously commented that the perceived dynasties were uncomfortable with a William Ruto administration as it may not safeguard their interests.

ODM leader Raila Odinga’s elder brother Oburu Odinga had last week implied that they were finally assured of winning the 2022 election since the so-called system was now on their side, statements that sparked the fire within the deputy president’s camp.

“Why have we not gone to state house when we have won the presidency before? It’s because there is something we have been missing. That thing is called system. And now we are with Uhuru Kenyatta who is holding the system,” said Oburu.

In the past month the self declared hustler has continued to fashion his ‘small man’ narrative, opening his purse to various youth and women groups, donating shoe shinning stands, salon equipment, water tanks and sewing machines, this after COVID-19 dealt a blow to his political tours to various parts of the country.

And to counter his fiercest competitor, on the religious front, Ruto has been hosting church delegations to appease faithful and brand himself as a man of god.

Some analysts now believe Ruto’s latest outbursts could be an attempt to call the bluff on the state apparatus and machinery working against him and prepare his supporters to reject the outcome of the election if he doesn’t win.

He first spoke openly about the matter during the burial Sergent Kipyegon Kenei a security officer attacched to his office.

These developments come days after President Kenyatta’s close confidant David Murathe and COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli revealed that ODM leader Raila Odinga was the preferred 2022 presidential candidate.

With political activity seemingly regaining ground after the COVID-19 break, Ruto’s sentiments have no doubt given fodder to his detractors and raised the Uhuru succession stakes even higher.