by KEITH ANG’ANA
As he loses his grip on power, Kenya’s president is losing the plot.
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).
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