When not being implicated for an alleged scam, Deputy President William Ruto will be heard vigorously defending a scandal, a bad decision or corrupt individuals who have been ‘targeted’ by the government.
The DP, who recently spoke in defense of embattled Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu, justified his decision to play devil’s advocate. However, this could cost him the top seat in 2022 for a number of reasons.
First, one of the constitutional roles of the president of Kenya is to defend the rights of the citizens he/she leads. This includes fighting corruption.
For this reason, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s announcement to fight graft came as a welcome surprise to Kenyans. Since that announcement, big names have been investigated, arrests have been made and in some cases, arraignments in court have occurred.
While it might have cost him some friends, this move significantly improved the president’s rating. A president (or president-in-the-making) cannot appear to abet wrongdoers.
During an interview on Kameme FM, the DP was asked why he defends politicians mentioned in various scandals instead of keeping silent and allowing investigative agents time to to do their work.
Ruto responded he believes “people are innocent until proven otherwise”. He explained that politicians are faced with several challenges, including malicious people who level false accusations in an attempt to bring them down.
As a leader, the DP’s words could be taken to mean he takes the anti-graft war lightly as he does not believe corruption is a serious crime and a threat to the wellbeing of this nation. This could also water down the efforts of investigative agents.
Out of 180 countries, Kenya ranks 143 on the 2017 corruption perception index released by Transparency International.
Kenyans have expressed concern at this rating and are increasingly becoming discontent.
As one of the national figures and presidential aspirant, Ruto should be nowhere near the corruption allegations, leave alone publicly defending those implicated, friends or otherwise.
Additionally, defending morally-challenged individuals casts doubt on the DP’s reputation, and has invited backlash from fellow politicians in his Jubilee Party.
“How can a national leader (William Ruto) publicly defend a suspect instead of calling for an investigation to be conducted?” Kiambu County Woman Representative Gathoni wa Muchomba asked.
Wa Muchomba raised the concern after Ruto defended Waititu.
Even before the detectives opened their investigations into the Arror and Kimwarer dams scandal, William Ruto and his allies were already up in arms to defend the scandal. They already knew how much was stolen and how much was still available.
“Has DCI told you that William Ruto has called him? Or that I interfered with investigations?… I have not said investigations should stop. What I have said is that people should not use the investigations to run a political narrative against Jubilee” ~ DP Ruto #NewsNight pic.twitter.com/yTEgJbQdY4
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) April 9, 2019
Keeping silent would have protected him from bad exposure. It is now evident that Ruto’s comments have derailed the fight against graft in the country.
In Africa, corruption is the single-most vice that has spread its tentacles into every sector, including religion. While the continent is winning the war against diseases such as polio, Africans are struggling under the weight of corruption. In Ruto’s own words, “The war on corruption is a war about integrity. A war on integrity without integrity ceases to be a war.”
Whether fought on integrity or not, unless he is involved in one way or the other, Ruto should let those who have been mentioned carry their own cross. It is upon the mentioned leader to deliver themselves without Ruto inviting himself into their woes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmVm7puHDvY
Kenyans are watching and evaluating. Every simple move that the DP makes is so crucial to them and if not taken care of such corruption defends will come to haunt him in the near future.