The position of deputy president has historically been deliberately made weak with those holding it being there to be seen and not to be heard.
In the US, for example, vice presidents were for centuries given no serious roles and nearly all of them were relegated to attending funerals of country leaders across the globe. Former President Bill Clinton changed all that by giving Vice President Al Gore real and substantive roles in his government.
When George W Bush succeeded Clinton, his deputy Dick Cheney became the de facto president because Bush was mostly clueless as to how a government is run. Those who pushed him to the position made sure Cheney were there to take care of business, and he did.
The US has never had a more powerful vice president than Cheney and it’s doubtful it ever will. When Mike Pence became VP to Donald Trump, he is remembered for his standing as a stooge next to the President and covetously staring at him at public events.
Vice President Kamala Harris may have helped propel Joe Biden to the presidency, but hardly any serious analyst and observer thinks she has a chance of succeeding him. In fact, Democrats are in trouble as they may lose the presidency in 2024 because Biden will be too old and there is no serious contender who can lead them to victory. That may, however, change in good time.
The story in Kenya is no different. The first and second presidents had the power to sack their vice presidents at any time and they did so. Each respective vice president, therefore, towed the line or was sacked.
That changed in 2010, when the drafters of the new law decided to entrench the deputy president in the Constitution such that the president cannot sack his or her deputy. A deputy president can now be removed from office only by impeachment and that is no easy walk in the park.
When President Uhuru Kenyatta and his henchmen realised how impossible it was to impeach his deputy, they came up with a plan to frustrate him to the point of forcing him to resign.
But William Ruto, now President, was too smart for them. Ruto weathered the onslaught and the man who was supposed to lead in those efforts, former Interior CS Fred Matiang’I, miserably failed in those efforts. Matiang’i will mostly be remembered as being one of the most overrated Cabinet secretaries in Kenyan history.
While Ruto strategically used his office as deputy to brilliantly outwit and outmaneuver Uhuru and Azimio leader Raila Odinga, it is doubtful Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will be as effective in using his office to succeed Ruto.
There may not be an ugly fall-out between Ruto and Gachagua as there was between Uhuru and Ruto, but the underlying dynamics are the same.
Anyone who has been following closely and listening to what Ruto has been saying would have no doubt but conclude he is determined to end tribalism as a determining factor in our elections.
In addressing Kenyans in Washington during his recent visit, the President said and reiterated this is what the voters proved when he was elected to office.
To those in doubt, sit back and watch how he makes the calls and has his team execute the plays from his new playbook for 2027.
These are plays Gachagua is better off just enjoying the perks and privileges of being a deputy and leave aside scheming to challenge or succeed Ruto.
If there is one thing the President has thus far proven, it is if Moi was the professor of politics, Ruto will relegate what Moi did to junior league.