Ten reasons the President ought to stop crisis caused by tiff with Ruto

The continuing conflict in the Presidency, that is, the Office of the President and the Office of the Deputy President, is disturbing.

President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto are at variance and that's perilous for the pinnacle of power and for the land.

The conflict became public last September when President Kenyatta abruptly and brazenly attacked Dr Ruto. He branded him a wandering young man who needed to be tied down by work for the citizenry.

UNCERTAINTY

But the crisis is unending and escalating because it is tied to the 2022 Kenyatta II succession. The politics of the presidential succession has sucked in all the big beasts, doves and hawks, and all and sundry.

Here’s why the President should stop the crisis. One, the poison of this largely war of proxies poses a significant threat to the Presidency's pivotal duty of keeping Kenya united and peaceful, certain and assured, of its future.

This crisis is rather like a fight on the bridge of the ship of state pitting the captain against his standout lookout. That portends peril in a sea of uncertainty.

Two, the President should not make it his business to sort out his succession this side of the General Election. The electorate will do that at the appointed time at the ballot.

Three, if the President has suddenly discovered that the DP, contrary to his 2013 and 2017 understanding, is not fit to be president, then, he should do one or all of the following.

Per the Constitution, a) trigger his impeachment on account of gross misconduct or violation of the Constitution or international law; b) have him investigated, arrested and arraigned on account of his alleged corruption; and c) tell Kenyans his discovery and decision and what the latter portends for them.

Four, in terms of reputational risk, Dr Ruto has been so battered he is damaged goods. As regards work and relationship he no longer enjoys the confidence of his boss. And the skirmishing between them is damaging the Presidency.

TARGETED

Five, the President volunteered in 2016 that there was corruption in the Presidency. But, unless he lances that boil he should remember that one is judged by the company one keeps.

But Kenya too is keeping that company. As the DP has been persistently lampooned as corrupt and defended vociferously as unfairly targeted, this has inflicted a festering sore on the face of Kenya.

Six, this drawn out drama may have helped the President weaken the DP’s standing in the succession stakes, but, quite apart from polarising the politics and populace, it has also hardened positions on the anti-graft drive.

Seven, obviously the President rubbed salt in the DP's wound when he excluded him from negotiations leading up to the March 9, 2018 peace pact with his arch rival Raila Odinga.

And now an unelected Odinga and President, inter alia, publicly flout protocol to flaunt their camaraderie to demean and embarrass an elected DP.

Dr Ruto could be forgiven for thinking that while the deal has been sold as an instrument for Kenya's unity, its latent but patent agenda is to undermine him. He cannot support it, can he?

Eight, Mr Odinga, the personification of the deal, looks like the obstacle between Dr Ruto and the Presidency. Mr Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement are fighting the DP with every weapon available to them.

DEMEANING

Worse, the President turns a blind eye and deaf ear to attacks on his DP. He therefore comes across as supportive of, or complicit in, the onslaught. Mr Odinga has even contemptuously told Dr Ruto to ask the President why he is targeted in the anti-graft push.

That's demeaning, but the deeper meaning is that Mr Odinga is privy to information from the President to which Dr Ruto is excluded. Little wonder some liken Mr Odinga to a co-President and Dr Ruto a castaway.

That's one more reason why the DP would regard Mr Odinga as an usurper and interloper. And why not, Mr Odinga's ally, organised labour boss Francis Atwoli, last Saturday provocatively prophesied that Dr Ruto will not be on the presidential ballot in 2022.

Nine, the referendum on change of the constitution when it comes will sharpen and deepen further the differences and divisions revolving around the presidential succession.

Ten, this crisis cannot be turned off like a tap. Impeachment and arraignment mean escalation as does continuation of the crisis. That means things may get worse before they get better. Why wait?

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