Kenya has, for many years, been a country whose politics is dominated by populism and tribalism. Election results have always been decided by what tribe you belong to or by how much a candidate is willing to empty their pockets to bribe the voters. Thus, once a politician gets into power, they have no obligation to perform their duties, since that was not the reason they were elected.
William Ruto, the current president of Kenya, got into politics right as Kenya headed to its first multiparty elections in 1992. As part of the Youth for KANU in 1992 (YK ’92), he and others, including Cyrus Jirongo and Sam Nyamweya, were recruited by then-President Daniel Moi in order to rally support for his presidential bid in the 1992 elections.
Their target group was their fellow youth. But if you think that they went around with brochures of their manifestos and campaigned honestly, then you are mistaken. The YK ’92 used dubious methods, such as printing money, which they would dish out during their campaigns (hence why the KSh 500 note, which was introduced at that time, became known as Jirongo).
William Ruto was at the frontline of this team, and since KANU won the ’92 elections, he seems to have learned an important lesson in Kenyan politics—that you can bribe people and have your way. Ever since this election, there have been six others. William Ruto, using the methods he learned under YK ’92, has won in all of them. For example, he defeated Reuben Chesire in the 1997, 2002, and 2007 elections for the Eldoret North Constituency seat, not legitimately, but through rigging.
And to this day, William Ruto has always played that game. Everywhere he goes, he ensures that people have been paid to attend his campaign rallies. This makes us question whether he is merely a narcissist who craves validation from people, or whether he actually knows that he has no supporters, so he must scramble to create an image for himself.
Whichever of the two is the answer doesn’t matter here. What matters is that the president and the rest of his government are used to paying crowds to attend their rallies, and that’s why they’re surprised by the recent turn of events.
William Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza regime came to power in September 2022 using a “hustler” narrative, which came with a raft of promises including: providing jobs for the youth, boda boda (motorbike) riders, mama mboga (grocery sellers), as well as micro, small, and medium enterprise operators; providing loans to entrepreneurs with no interest or collateral; reducing the cost of living. and reducing corruption.
In the two years that they’ve been in power, however, William Ruto’s government has only delivered 13 out of the 284 promises, a mere 5%. The youth and hustlers, whose name and fame he rode on during his campaigns, have been left behind—nay, discarded—in this government’s priorities.
It was no wonder, then, that when the anti-government protests began last month, they were spearheaded by the youth. Feeling betrayed, they went to the streets to protest—first, because of the Finance Bill 2024, then later, because of everything else, including corruption, unemployment, the high costs of living, education, and healthcare, and 200 other things.
Their grievances are clear, written both on their placards and on their social media handles, but the government seems to be either blind or deaf, or even both. Why else would they claim that the protests are funded? Kenyans have legitimate concerns! Kenyans have said that they don’t want the Finance Bill, because of the taxes. Kenyans have said that they want jobs. Kenyans have said that they want the cost of living to go down. Kenyans have said that they want the government to cut down on unnecessary expenditure.
Despite these concerns, the government still alleges that the protests are funded. First, it was the government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura, who said that the protests are funded by the Russians. Next, it was Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe, who said that the protests are sponsored by the Illuminati. (Jeez, that’s so 2010! I mean, were they even trying at this point?) In a TV interview, former Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security Kithure Kindiki, said that the protests are funded by politicians (whom he was afraid to mention). And finally, William Ruto, in a tour to Nakuru County, where he had paid a crowd to listen to his speech, accused the Ford Foundation of sponsoring the protests (even though the list of all their grantees is on their website).
If William Ruto thinks the protests are funded, then let him know that he is the funder. Everyone who protests does so because of him. It is he who fuels our urge to go out to the street. It is he whom we spite so much that we prefer to spend our days being chased around by police rather than doing anything else. It is he who is the root cause of our problems.
And if he wants to see the protests end, then he should resign together with his government. Only then will everyone return home. It is no use for him to fire everyone else in his Cabinet and retain himself. We all know that a fish rots from the head, and so Ruto shouldn’t anticipate any change if he stays at the helm. Wasn’t it former Attorney General Justin Muturi who said that Ruto doesn’t listen to his advisers? As a matter of fact, he advises his advisers!
If that is the case, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Ruto thinks the protests are funded, even after protests have sprung up in 35 out of the 47 counties, including in Ruto’s home county of Uasin Gishu. Even after protests erupted in areas where people didn’t expect them to. Even after protestors had clearly explained to William Ruto their problems.
Yet he still thinks that these are paid people. Why he cannot fathom the existence of an organic movement against him is beyond my knowledge. Is it that he has always bought crowds all his life, so he thinks this is the norm?
Is it that he has an incompetent communications team that cannot actually tell him the situation on the ground? I mean, if he employed David Itumbi, a self-proclaimed propagandist, as his chief communications officer, then he has no one to blame for shooting himself in the foot.
Is it that William Ruto is a madman? Honestly, if it were up to me, I would choose this out of all three options. William Ruto is actually a mad man. And he needs to be rushed to a mental asylum at the earliest chance. Article 144 (1) of the Kenyan Constitution allows for the removal of the president on the grounds of incapacity. For that reason, I am urging any member of the National Assembly to move a motion on the investigation of the president’s mental capacity.
Because, to me, it is unfathomable how a sane man can point at others for his mistakes, yet forget to look at the mirror. It is unfathomable how a sane man can wake up every day and go to the streets to lie to Kenyans without any guilt. It is unfathomable how a sane man can steal taxpayers’ money instead of simply providing services to the citizens who elected him.
It is unfathomable how a sane man can spend taxpayers’ money to fly around the world on his personal trips, and then when his citizens ask for jobs, he offers to sell them as slaves to foreign countries. It is unfathomable how a sane man can mete out violence on peaceful protestors, who carry only phones and Kenyan flags, without feeling any remorse. It is unfathomable how a sane man can be in total denial of the consequences of his actions.
There is a Latin phrase that says, “Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat,” which translates to, “Whom the gods want to destroy, they first make mad.” Today, I want to tell William Ruto, to his face, that he is a madman. William Ruto, please wake up and smell the coffee. This nation of Kenya no longer wants you at the helm. The demands of the citizens are simple, and you are not the right man to solve our problems. You have had two years to do so, and you’ve failed. Therefore, please step aside for others. We deserve better, and you are not part of our plans for a better nation.
Keith Ang’ana is a writer, editor, and one of the founders of Qwani, a collective for young talented writers.
Source: Africa Is a Country
