The art of political defiance: The plunge that could make or break

What you need to know:

  • Governor Ruto has been going against the grain by not toeing the line prescribed by Jubilee coalition leaders President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.
  • Contrary to what some believe, the governor denies he is out to boost his political standing.

There is no single path to fame and power. Some leaders have had it bestowed upon them, others have inherited it and others have fought for it. For those who have had to take it by force, it has never been a walk in the park.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga are where they are thanks to the politics of defiance.

Defying the system, god fathers or political mentors has borne sweet fruits for some but for others it has ended careers.

Is Council of Governors chairman Isaac Ruto treading the same path? His stand on the referendum has not augured well with his party and regional supremos.

His recent spat with the Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale has become a major sticking point in relations between Jubilee principals, who are opposed to the referendum, and some governors from the same coalition who are pushing for it.

GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN

Governor Ruto has been going against the grain by not toeing the line prescribed by Jubilee coalition leaders President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.

The two have been consistent in their opposition to calls for a referendum first made by the Opposition Cord and then by governors.

The Bomet governor is dancing to a tune familiar to politicians in and out of successive governments who have built careers on defying the establishment.

Those who have observed this trend over time say politicians do this either to redeem their floundering political fortunes or for recognition they would ordinarily not attract by walking the well-beaten path.

Conversely, there are those who do it out of ideological persuasion. Yet not all acts of defiance lead to a blossoming career.

Disregarding the established order has been the Waterloo for some.

Governor Ruto’s sustained push for the referendum, which proposes to increase financial allocations to counties from the current 15 per cent provided for in the Constitution to 45 per cent, has earned him ire and condemnation from Jubilee coalition generals like Kithure Kindiki, the Senate majority leader.

Last week, Governor Ruto was in his element when President Kenyatta invited him to strike a deal to abandon the referendum route to address the governors’ grievances.

“What we are pushing for as governors is what the local Kenyan wants; not even an overbearing presidency can stop us from this,” he told Sunday Nation.

He warned that unless someone sticks his or her neck out, the gains made in the area of civil liberties would be rolled back on the watch of President Kenyatta and his deputy.

“There is a resurgence of dictatorship in the country. Look at what is happening in political parties: expulsion and threats of suspension,” he said.

Mr Ruto is set to appear before URP’s National Executive Council (NEC) to show cause why he should not be disciplined for being a ‘rebel’.

A fortnight ago, Mr Kenyatta asked governors rooting for referendum to leave the Jubilee coalition.

“Party organs are not being allowed to meet and ventilate on matters that affect them. In URP for instance, all NEC members are appointees of the party leader (Mr William Ruto).

“It is the National Governing Council, made up of elected representatives, which can take up such a decision, and in any case, party primaries stalled at county level in the run-up to last elections and so such an organ does not exist until elections are held,”  he said.

Contrary to what some believe, the governor denies he is out to boost his political standing.

“I know one can accumulate political capital out of these things, but let it be known that this comes as a by-product of an individual’s activities in the political arena.

“And by the way, this is what politics is all about — it is, however, not my primary intention.”

But according to Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, one of the leading generals of the Deputy President, Governor Ruto is simply a distraction in Jubilee.

“There are fundamental differences between defying so as to achieve a noble course and being a rabble-rouser. His is not grounded on any good cause,” the senator said.

PERENNIAL 'BLACK SHEEP'
He criticised Mr Ruto for what he described as being a perennial “black sheep” in Rift Valley.

“Defiance must not be permanent; no person has ever become president in Kenya by being defiant throughout. The DP did it temporarily, and even President Moi, before his party, Kadu, crossed the floor to join Kanu in 1964.”

Kuresoi South MP Zakayo Cheruiyot supports Governor Ruto.

“These counties sacrificed and expected a 50-50 scenario in the Jubilee administration. This rebellion has got everything to do with the management of URP. Its management is worse than wanting,” he said, adding there has not been any meeting of URP leaders to address emerging issues and adopt a common position.

This is not the first time Governor Ruto is going against the powers that be. At one point, President Moi had to abandon him at the airport in Johannesburg after he questioned his decision to sack Prof George Saitoti as vice-president.

In a public forum in 1996, he also rubbed Moi the wrong way when he said existing political leaders could not be relied on to drive the reforms the country badly needed.

ART OF REDEMPTION

At that time, Moi was like Ares, the Greek god of war, demanding total submission from his subjects; whoever went against the grain at the height of his rule was condemned into oblivion.

“I was sure he would kick me out of his Cabinet especially when I told him the future of Kenya’s politics was in alliances and coalitions. Of course, he eventually sent me packing,” he said.

In 2012, Mr Ruto led the Kipsigis MPs out of ODM after differing with Mr Raila Odinga over the restoration of the Mau water tower.

His unyielding stance has also emboldened his neighbours like Nandi Governor Cleophas Lagat who last week told Mr Kenyatta that the governors are not civil servants to be ordered to drop their support for the referendum.

Prof Macharia Munene, a historian at United States International University-Africa in Nairobi says defiance is an art of political redemption. “It is an old thing; it is done to earn political mileage.”

Equally, he warns, anyone who chooses this path must first calculate well because there are always losers as well as heroes.

“At times it backfires; this happens mostly when one miscalculates or has an imperious boss. Also, there are times when kingmakers, or even the kings themselves, become the products of political revolts; William Ruto is such an example.”

Prof Munene says the fact that Governor Ruto is more experienced (politically) than the DP has contributed to the increasingly bad blood between the duo.

“During their days in Kanu, Isaac was always senior to William. This is why William has a lot of work to do in order to make him irrelevant before 2017, or check his influence,” Prof Munene says.

Political analyst Tom Mboya from Maseno University says ambition always underpins defiance.

“At any given time, there is always such a figure, and matters are further complicated for those in power when issues those figures articulate are or appear to be pro-people,” he says.

DEFIED THE ICC STORM

To Mr Mboya, as the chair of the Council of Governors, Mr Ruto must speak like a union leader.

But Governor Ruto is not alone in this. Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto defied the ICC storm over criminal cases they face at The Hague arising from the post poll chaos of 2007/08.

The DP rebelled against Mr Odinga in the run-up to the March 2013 General Election before leading politicians from the Rift Valley region in staging a massive walkout from the party.

It is also a road well known to the Cord luminary, Mr Odinga.

Almost two years after entering into a merger with then ruling party Kanu, he rebelled against President Moi when he (Moi) named Mr Kenyatta, then a political greenhorn, as his choice as successor ahead of the 2002 elections.

But it was his successful campaigns against the new constitution in 2005 that finally acted as a springboard for him to get wider acceptance from parts of the country outside Nyanza.

In so doing, he led an uprising against President Mwai Kibaki. This led to a fierce face off in the 2007 elections, a contest that remains (officially, at least) not clear who between them won.

Additional reporting by George Sayagie