Why Ruto is on aggressive countrywide tours

The need to explain the reasons for his broad-based government and the urgency to counter youthful protests could have informed President William Ruto's latest aggressive countrywide tours. 

Political pundits also attribute Ruto's heightened trips to various regions of the country to his efforts to diffuse tensions in his government amid an alleged fallout with his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.

Fears that some of his bastions are falling into the control of his political enemies and concerns that the government is out of touch with the public have forced Ruto to step out.

Ruto has embarked on an aggressive tour of strategic regions in a calculated strategy to market his broad-based government and rally support after a wave of protests.

The president coopted some allies of the opposition leader Raila Odinga including Wycliffe Oparanya, Hassan Joho, John Mbadi, Opiyo Wandayi and Beatrice Askul into his government.

Ruto narrowly defeated Raila in the 2022 presidential contest but the two leaders are working together in what has evoked memories of the Pentagon camaraderie in 2007.

The president’s advisers have carefully mapped his countrywide whirlwind as part of the elaborate strategy to shore up government support after Generation Zoomers(Gen Z) drove it to the cliff’s edge.

In the last two weeks, President Ruto has traversed at least 7 counties in Coast and Mount Kenya regions, moving to assert his influence and also lobby Kenyan’s support for his new Cabinet.

Following sustained protests from youthful Kenyans who demanded an overhaul of his administration, President Ruto dissolved nearly the whole Cabinet on July 11, announcing far-reaching policy changes.

On June 26, Ruto rejected the Finance Bill 2024-a proposed legislation to amend various tax laws –as he responded to the pressure from the protesters who had earlier stormed Parliament.

The President also announced a raft of measures aimed at addressing the concerns raised including slashing various budgets and expenditure lines to contain public sector costs.

After unveiling an expanded Cabinet that included key opposition figures allied to ODM boss Raila Odinga, President Ruto started countrywide tours to shore up support.

Over the last 14 days, the president has toured the Coast region, Mount Kenya and is due to embark on a development visit to Nyanza next week that will cover Kisii and Nyamira counties.

During his trips, the President’s messaging has centred on unity for all Kenyans, vouching for the broad-based government as the panacea to the dragon of tribalism and negative ethnicity.

President William Ruto now says that his newly constituted broad-based administration will unlock the full potential of the country.

Speaking during the swearing-in of 19 approved Cabinet Secretaries on Thursday, Ruto said Kenya has always been held back by political rivalry.

"The formation of this broad-based government that brings together former political rivals into one selfless patriotic team will unlock the potential of our country that has long been denied us by factional and sectarian competition," the President said at State House.

Analysts say the president’s trips are strategically aimed at lobbying support for the broad-based government while reassuring support bases that Ruto is in control.

Former Cabinet Minister in the Nyayo era Franklin Bett admits that presidential tours are critical to enable the head of state to personally assess the impact of his decisions and political moves.

“When you look at President Ruto’s political strategy, it mirrors Moi’s rule book because it focuses more on direct engagements with the people at the grassroots and being hands-on," he said.

The former MP observed that the President could escalate his trips to more parts of the country including opposition strongholds as he seeks to penetrate enemy territories ahead of 2027.

“Much of the trips will be influenced by his 2027 reelection strategy that encompasses winning over Raila’s support bases," he said.

Immediately after he picked former Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho the new Mining and Blue Economy CS, President Ruto stormed the Coastal regional for a three-day tour.

For the first time since his presidential victory in 2022, the President received a rapturous welcome in Mombasa, signalling the shifting ground and changing fortunes after Cabinet changes.

Hundreds of residents showed up to welcome the president as he arrived in Mombasa on July 26 to commission various development projects.

It was the same reception in Kilifi, Kwale and Taita Taveta where hundreds of residents turned up to welcome him as he opened development projects.

The President told the residents that his decision to form a broad-based government and the naming of Joho into the Cabinet was meant to ensure inclusivity.

“I appointed a new batch of Cabinet nominees. People of Mombasa, I ask you to support Ali Hassan Joho as a minister in my government. Are you in agreement?” President Ruto asked, receiving affirmative responses from the crowd.

Ruto started the three-day tour of the Coast region after visiting Tharaka Nithi to affirm his ties with his Interior CS Kithure Kindiki, who had just been retained in the Cabinet.

After his Coast Tour, the president embarked on an extensive tour of his Mount Kenya bastion.

The region has been restive since Ruto's tax proposals were opposed by some leaders from the region.

The tour comes at a time when his deputy had claimed that President Ruto’s Finance Bill, 2024 had been rejected by Kenyans because the president did not listen to the “ground’’.

Before the president rescinded the Finance Bill, Gachagua had traversed the region and appeared to win over the support of the residents even as voters heavily criticised those who backed the controversial Bill.

There were reports that Gachagua’s perceived fallout with key leaders of the Kenya Kwanza government could have endeared him to his vast Mount Kenya heartland, thus cementing his kingship bid.

While most Kenya Kwanza politicians faced hostilities in their backyards after backing the impugned Finance Bill, 2024, Gachagua continued to enjoy warm receptions.

Some analysts say that the president’s latest tour of the region is aimed at countering the anti-Kenya Kwanza government wave and rallying the region behind him.

“The tour is strategic to even assess the reception of the broad-based government given that in the past the region has opposed Raila vehemently,’’ said political analyst Alexander Nyamboga.

The analyst said the recent developments that saw Ruto include ODM bigwigs in his administration could have unsettled the region given Gachagua’s aggressive onslaught.

During the trip, Ruto and Gachagua who are said to have irreparably fallen out, put a brave face across the region – a façade aimed at defusing tensions- in the wake of widening cracks.

The two traversed Embu, Murang’a and Kirinyaga counties albeit with a hiatus on Thursday to witness the swearing-in of the reconstituted Cabinet.

The visit also comes against the drumbeats of a plot to impeach the DP, who has also complained of a government crackdown targeting him and his allies.

Recently, DCI officers seized phones belonging to two of Gachagua’s allies – Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru and his Embakasi North counterpart James Gakuya.

Gachagua, who accompanied the President and is expected to take part in all the scheduled activities, received a rapturous reception in his address to Embu residents.

“You will be seeing us more often. We will be coming to monitor the progress of these projects,” Gachagua said, adding they would continue with the fight against alcoholism.

Speaking in Runyenjes, Embu county, Ruto said the new inclusive government is to bring together leaders from various political quarters to help him tackle the issues bedevilling the country.

"We are all one team. We have agreed that we are uniting Kenya into one team. The other day I formed a government that will unite all Kenyans because I don't want any more incitement from any Kenyan. If it's debts, let's pay together. If it is about taxes, let's look for it together."