Deputy President William Ruto is walking a tightrope as he seeks to convince a highly skeptical bloc of followers in his Rift Valley backyard that he has not been sidelined in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.
Though Dr Ruto has repeatedly assured Rift Valley residents that all is well between him and President Kenyatta, the masses remain skeptical.
Last Sunday in Bomet County, Dr Ruto was again confronted with the question whether he had been sidelined in the running of government, especially with the elevation of Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i as the supervisor of fellow ministers through a Presidential executive order.
Eviction of families from Mau Forest, sacking of senior professionals in government from the region, alleged lopsided allocation of development projects to the detriment of those in the South Rift region, and unfulfilled pre-election promises are some of the issues that residents have raised.
In private, senior politicians from the region say their stay in Jubilee Party is just a matter of convenience ahead of the next General Election.
“The salvo thrown by former Jubilee vice chairman David Murathe had a permanent damage on the party and it would be difficult to recover from it. That is why the people are raising serious questions directed at the Deputy President,” an MP from the region said.