Ruto's Government Desperately needs the Opposition

Nairobi, 

Friday, 26 July, 2024 

McCreadie Andias 

A Lot has happened in just one month, Outburst of the wildest protest Kenya has ever seen, Parliament buildings breached, Over 60 young Kenyans killed, Finance bill dropped, Cabinet dismissed and a new cabinet formed. 

In what appears to be a bold and arrogant move, President William Ruto on Wednesday, 25 July, 2024, nominated four members of an Opposition Party, ODM, to his new cabinet. 

John Mbadi,ODM chairman and a nominated member of Parliament was nominated as the new cabinet secretary for the National Treasury, James Opiyo Wandayi, Member of Parliament for Unguja Constituency and Minority leader of the National Assembly was nominated to Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum.

ODM Deputy Party leader and former Kakamega Governor, Wycliff Ambetsa Oparanya was nominated to Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives & MSMEs while another ODM Deputy Party Leader and Former Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho was nominated to Cabinet Secretary for Mining & Blue Economy.

The move was described by the President as an approach to form a broad - based government that portrayed a national face including the opposition.

However, questions arise on how the same President who once before, boldly and firmly declared not to share a slice of his government with the opposition, came to such a decision.

Ruto condemned his former boss Uhuru Kenyatta for going to bed with the opposition in what was popularly known as the 'Handshake Government'. He faulted the Opposition for sabotaging the plans and agenda of the Jubilee Government and introducing punitive bills like the contentious Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which he described as an attempt to create more seats in government for political big wings.

He criticized Raila Odinga for his typical stants of fixing his way into the government as he previously did under the Moi regime, Kibaki regime and Uhuru regime.

“If I say there will be no handshake, I know there is a context. Unfortunately for us in Kenya, handshake has a different connotation, and that is the one I am talking about... The handshake that brings the opposition and government into some conundrum, a mongrel and an outfit that is undemocratic, unconstitutional and illegal,” Ruto said before during an event in Rwanda. 

According to the president, the 2018 handshake resulted in a government without Opposition which he believes was the downfall of the Jubilee administration.

“Kenya is a democracy, and it is underpinned by a system of checks and balances where you have a government and an opposition. The history we have of the handshake is where there was a fusion of government and the opposition and the results were very disastrous for the country,” he stated.

Ruto dared that he will never have a piece of Raila in his Government.

Similarly, Self-proclaimed as President Ruto’s watchman, Deputy president Rigathi Gachagua once affirmed he would ‘protect’ Ruto against advances from veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has a knack for warming his way to power at the expense of deputy and vice presidents.

Gachagua said he had set traps at State House to ensnare specific individuals, mainly the opposition leader Raila Odinga. 

“Leave the job of guarding the President to me. If anyone tries to approach the State House, I have set traps on every possible path they could take. There is no way they can get through. So, there’s nothing for you to worry about,” Gachagua said last year.

The Latest is, now we have four ODM hardine members into big Cabinet positions at the Ruto - Gachagua administration and if this is not daunting enough, The Same Ruto - Gachagua government has organized a fully - equipped regional campaign to ensure Raila Odinga secures the Chairperson position at the African Union at a cost.

From the Onset, Since Ruto formed the Government in 2022,He knew his biggest threat will be the opposition coalition, Azimio La Umoja one Kenya and specifically, Raila Odinga, he Knew well the typical tactics used by Raila Odinga when it comes to seeking a bargaining power into the government. 

Anti-government protests and Dialogues have been the typical tools of trade for opposition Chief Raila Odinga at any attempt of sneaking into the ruling government just after losing elections. 

Protests he came with in the name of defending the common mwananchi against an oppressive government but his end game would be a piece of cake in the government, Ruto has been familiar with Raila's game and that would make it easier to tame him. 

Contrary to his expectations, neither Raila nor the opposition would come to be his biggest threats, The President has faced an unprecedented threat that has seemed difficult to tame or control. This time it's not Raila and his corny maandamano's in the guise of demanding good governance for the common man.The new enemy is not only leaderless, fearless or tribeless but also dangerously priceless. Gen-Z!

More than five weeks of aggressive Gen-Z protests have given President William Ruto the most difficult nights, perhaps more difficult than any of the four former presidents have experienced before, from any civil or Anti-government organized group. 

Just what happens when trust is lost? Especially in politics, You either find new allies or offer political tokens to your foes for support. 

Here, the Inevitable decision was for the President to seek refuge at the Opposition's camp in order to try and tame the intensity of the matter at hand, and who else was better than Raila Odinga himself and his typical dialogues.

Has the president grown affection for the opposition overnight? No! It is fair to agree that at this moment, Opposition leader Raila Odinga was the only man who could deliver the president out of the woods. Maybe he could not help him tone the protests down but a piece of his experience and advice in public governance was more than the president needed. 

Why again did Ruto need opposition leader Raila more than he could need anyone else or more than he needed him before? 

Of Course the President is clearly not in good terms with his former boss Uhuru Kenyatta, meanwhile, all the three other former Presidents, Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel Moi and his political mentor Mwai Kibaki are peacefully resting in the heavens. 

Normally, a sitting President often seeks advice and counsel from former presidents when things get out of hand in terms of economy, governance, internal security, diplomacy or geo-political issues. In Ruto’s case there's no one by his side in the experienced capacity of a former president to counsel him on handling the current crisis that his government is facing, the bad blood between him and Uhuru only leaves him with one option and that's Raila. 

Raila might not have had the luck to lead a government before but he had an equal share of government as Prime minister During Kibaki's reign and has worked under all the last four presidents which makes him capacitated enough to guide President Ruto on a holistic and rigorous approach to make things work at his messed-up administration. 

The opposition leader must have been the one who came up with the 'national dialogue' idea which, although has not been taken well by all,might be the best solution to end the current crisis since everyone from a broad perspective might have a chance to key in their demands and grievances for the government or give their recommendations on contentious issues. 

Ruto also needed the Opposition at this time because his government seemed to have run short of experienced and competent individuals to help him deliver quality service at the executive level. This gives us the answers why Ruto had to nominate four members of the opposition party ODM to his new cabinet. 

Most of Ruto's henchmen from inside his previous cabinet and his political loyalists have been doomed corrupt if not incompetent. This brought a standoff between the President and the citizens forcing him to fire all his Cabinet over public outcry on underperformance, corruption and incompetence. 

Even with his new nominees, 12 of the previous cabinet have failed to be re-listed for re-appointment. 

Ruto had to borrow the likes of educated elites like James Opiyo Wandayi and John Mbadi to help him clean the mess at the Ministry of Treasury and the Ministry of Energy& Petroleum. 

He needed Joho and Oparanya who previously served as County Governors to help him at the Ministry of Mining & Blue Economy and the Ministry of Cooperatives & MSMEs. Not because the two former Governors are as clean as cotton, but at least they have the necessary experience to run a ministry as they have managed an entire county before. 

These new options are better than the likes of a foul-mouthed Moses Kuria who cannot control his mouth in public or an arrogant Susan Nakhumicha who cannot even get along with medical interns if not doctors. 

If the opposition has to work with the government at this point in order to create a quality cabinet that will deliver effective service to the people, why not? 

Despite the fact that the entire wing of opposition might have not nodded their heads to these nominations, The latest is necessary for a quality progress forward. 

On another note, Ruto's motive to incorporate the Opposition into his government might not have been purely out of the kindness of his heart but perhaps a way of finding a ‘partner in crime’ to project along his failures. 

These recent tensions and raging protests have been incredibly hard on the president. Perhaps at this moment he might be the 'most disliked' person in the country, not a good way to be popular. He is not proud of himself and he is trying to find someone to drag along with him as he grapples with his mess. 

Perhaps the president is trying not to 'die alone' In his failures of not delivering his promises to the people. Anyone along the sidelines of the head of state from his Cabinet, his legislators and even his family have recently found themselves on the bad side of the people only because of being too close to the president and working with him.

The president has hereby sought the solitude of the opposition in carrying the weight of the blames, insults, and hate from the people by inviting the opposition to sit by his side at such a 'time of need'.

Anyone close to the president at this time has been deemed a traitor and enemy of the people and this could be a tactic to project the opposition and paint them black as well.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has however refuted claims that the opposition nor his ODM party have joined the government and those at the helm of Cabinet nominations from ODM have done so at individual capacity.

A statement was issued before that Odinga had warned that any member from His ODM party or Opposition accepting Cabinet nominations will face severe disciplinary repercussions, the biggest question is, how would all the four of his Party's top members, sitting at the helm of ODM's leadership, get government nominations without his blessings?

“As articulated in our statement on Tuesday July 23,2024, neither the ODM party or Azimo la Umoja One Kenya coalition party has entered into any coalition agreement with president Ruto’s UDA party.”Raila Noted. 

“While we extend our best wishes to the nominees, and trust that they will contribute positively to national development, we continue to advocate for national engagement under the conditions we have previously outlined.”He added 

In a nutshell, We must conclude that at this moment, no matter what motive he has, President William Ruto needs the opposition more than the opposition needs him. He is a lonely man at war and the opposition has come to his rescue. 

The youths have already declined to hold a dialogue with him and have dared to refuse any state appointments he might offer. The youths have refused to be bought by the state or sell their integrity for 30 pieces of silver. 

‘Handshake’ is the president's only way out of this!, Yet it might not save him entirely. It will give him a chance to re-strategize and make some 'new friends' to work with. The President might have lost his ground from his popular regions but he is seeking new grounds from the opposition’s regions by handing political tokens. 

Not all might have been angered by the latest ‘handshake nominees’ especially from the Raila strongholds, The Luo region, Western region and coast which are all Raila's strongholds and each have been gifted a share from the new cabinet, most take this as an olive branch extended by the president to mend paths and work together in an attempt to bring development to them. 

Evidently, President Ruto held a rally in Mombasa County on Thursday 25th,Just a day after he appointed Joho to his cabinet. 

Ruto has asked residents of Mombasa to allow him to work with Hassan Joho as Mining and Blue Economy CS. This is a clever way to gain ground in the opposition's territory by awarding opposition leaders slots in his government only to use the gift as a friend request from the region. 

Who knows maybe next week he will be in Kakamega for the same about Oparanya and maybe the other week in Homa Bay or Kisumu in Luo Nyanza, sugar coating himself for gifting sons of the lake Mbadi and Wandayi.Ruto Seeking ground in the enemy's territory after losing ground at his own is indeed a clever one.

Despite the fact that Ruto might have not called for a media invite and shaked the hands of his political opponent Raila Odinga in an Open public declaring a political pact as his predecessor did, his latest actions will not need political commentators to describe it as a ‘handshake ‘, the fact now is that the opposition side of Raila Odinga is in government and maybe more of this ‘political marriage’ will unfold in the days to come.