Some of us have observed and said DP William Ruto has been walking around with a swagger that can only be of a man who believes he has the proverbial bigger balls than anyone who have been in his position before.
Forget about the voters who DP Ruto has demonstrated he has what it takes to woo but in Africa—and Kenya is no different — those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.
That is not just a quote, whose attribution to Joseph Stalin is disputed. It is a fact of life in Africa and if in doubt, ask any serious opposition leader, starting with ODM leader Raila Odinga.
Heck, quietly and privately ask retired President Mwai Kibaki and his former aides or President Uhuru Kenyatta and his minders and they will sheepishly chuckle as they admit, yes, that is so true.
Ruto knows all that but watching and analysing what he says and does, the DP clearly has some level of confidence that he believes he has the balls of steel against which no harm can be done try as one may.
He may be partially right to the extent that one can clearly see how his men and women are, in fact, part of the so-called deep state.
Question is, how significant a number is Ruto’s own mini deep state?
One can’t tell for sure, but it would be naïve not to know the man who was practically a co-president during the first term most certainly used that power to build his own network, even as he was amassing the wealth he has.
We have seen evidence of that in information leaked by Ruto’s junior bloggers. His senior bloggers, including highly educated doctors and lawyers, are in the meantime busy making fools of themselves saying things that make no sense to anyone, including themselves—but that is for another day.
For now, the question is, has Ruto peaked before the 2022 election?
The short answer is yes.
Contrary to his assertion the other day — which was pure comedy besides being disingenuous — Ruto has been campaigning for the presidency since he was first sworn as deputy president.
Yes, he knew there was some promise of “kumi kumi” but, like any politician with even the most minimal knowledge and understanding of politics, political promises by and between politicians are as useless as the gimmicks they deploy during campaigns.
A wheelbarrow comes to mind.
Knowing that, Ruto embarked on executing a road to State House as president strategy that any objective observer would say he has done exceptionally well with.
His so-called hustler narrative caught his opponents by surprise and by the time they realised or woke up, the narrative had taken hold—never mind its merits.
It was, therefore, surprising that Ruto would suddenly abandon that narrative to adopt the now ill-advised and so-called “bottom-up” economic narrative, which will mostly be remembered for what Raphael Tuju said about it.
In politics, like everywhere else in life, the law of diminishing marginal returns has a way of creeping in and prematurely bringing to end something good one thought they had going.
The DP is fast approaching that — the end of a good ride — if he is not already there.
We know the purging of his men and women from Jubilee Party and parliamentary leadership was accomplished.
There is no doubt the same has been underway to root out his men and women in the system—though that may have proven easier said than done.
Then there is his impending removal from Jubilee as deputy party leader.
Add that a few things those with a bigger hammer have up their sleeves and one cannot but conclude Ruto’s better days are fast appearing in the rear-view mirror. At least as far as 2022 goes.
Samuel Omwenga is a legal analyst and political commentator