Shock as Laboso brings down combative Isaac Ruto

The 2017 elections has clipped the wings of Bomet Governor Isaac Kiprono Ruto, one of the greatest defenders of devolution and fiercest opponents of the Jubilee regime.

As results trickled in on Wednesday, it became clear that the fifth principal in the opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa) was headed for a devastating defeat by Dr Joyce Cherono Laboso, who is likely to become the first woman county governor in the South Rift.

Of course Mr Ruto had alleged rigging, accusing the police of branding him an election offender when they arrested his minister for allegedly holding a campaign meeting beyond the stipulated time on Monday night.

But with results from 724 polling stations in, Mr Ruto seemed to be vacating his seat for the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and former Sotik MP. 

With only four stations left, Dr Laboso led the tally, having chalked up 175,932 votes against his 85,863.

DEFECTORS

Mr Ruto was among the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) defectors in 2012 who formed United Republican Party (URP).

His namesake William Ruto would lead URP in the Jubilee coalition with Mr Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA). The outfit went on to win the 2013 elections.

However, the two Rutos fell out over a proposal to dissolve URP and TNA and form a “national” Jubilee Party. Mr Ruto resisted the idea, quitting URP to found Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM), which joined Nasa early this year.

Mr Ruto’s loss to Dr Laboso is not only a humiliation to Nasa but also a possible annihilation of his political ambitions.

He had planned to tame Deputy President Ruto’s rising influence in the Rift Valley and cement himself in the South Rift, particularly as the kingpin of the Kipsigis community.

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

His run-ins with Jubilee began early, when, as Council of Governors chairman, he constantly complained over the national government’s disbursal of devolved funds.

He also opposed the government’s medical equipment deal and was the last governor to sign up.

Jubilee has pumped into Bomet a lot of money in a persistent campaign to neutralise Governor Ruto’s influence.

Though the governor often pushed the idea that Dr Laboso was an outsider as she is married in Kisumu, Jubilee sold the perception that he hired crowds to fill grounds at rallies.

Dr Laboso pledged to correct alleged corruption by Mr Ruto, saying she is a defender of women and youth.

“There is no development record on the part of the governor,” Dr Laboso said at her manifesto launch in Bomet attended by President Kenyatta in July. “We must change that and ensure devolution works for our people.

COLLEGE

“The governor has been fighting his own wars. Why should the governor bite the fingers that feed him?”

This year, Dr Laboso was enjoined in a case opposing the county’s objection to a Sh800 million Bomet University College as Mr Ruto said the land allocated to it was meant for a dumpsite.

But in June, the High Court threw out the case, granting the land to the constituent college of Moi University.

When, the following month, President Kenyatta publicly presented a title deed for the land, he also told a rally at Bomet Green Stadium: “For the past five years, it has been like the national government and counties are in competition.

LACK OF MONEY

They complain of lack of money and make all sorts of noise.

“Today, we are here to demonstrate that money in counties and money at the national government is the same, belonging to the Kenyan taxpayer.”

It appears that the endorsement Governor Ruto got from Kipsigis Council of Elders (some purists claim that he sat on an official chair instead of the  traditional three-legged stool during the ceremony) and the many Nasa rallies he hosted have amounted to naught. It remains to be seen how he will react to the final results.