Democracy by exclamation goes to stadium, revealing nation in a restive state

Once upon not too long ago, when football was a national obsession, politicians used it to galvanise the masses and invoke fierce patriotic fervour. 

The appearance of the Head of State at the stands, particularly, was seen as a harbinger of good tidings. First off, the gates would be opened for all the fans outside, while the players on the pitch were buoyed to display their best, hoping to receive a presidential handshake at the end of the match.

Such populism seems like a distant dream; on Sunday, the tickets sold out, a feat last experienced eight years ago, so the extra fans without tickets stormed into the Nyayo National Stadium by fire by force, to use the lingo currently in vogue.

They were intent on cheering the national team by chanting what has become the most consistent leitmotif of the Kenya Kwanza administration: Ruto Must Go! This is a poignant departure: it is not the politicians, but the youth who used football to mobilise, and their clarion call, while cheering Harambee Stars, was a protest song delivered in unison: Ruto Must Go!

They had rehearsed the song for months now by doing a dance called “trending” online, so it seems appropriate that Prezzo Ruto responded by creating content of his own and similarly posting online.

First off, he went church somewhere in Nairobi’s Jericho, one of the old neighbourhoods that are on the brink of destruction to pave the way for highrise buildings. Stepping out in designer shoes and pants and a deep-pocketed blazer to accommodate the millions that he gave as offering, and a promise to offer more in the future, he had a sartorial transformation before the sun was overhead.

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That was Naivasha and Prezzo Ruto now adorned a white shirt with a patchwork of names and labels and insignia of the Safari Rally sponsors, flagging off the motorists with vigour. I just don’t know how he made it to Naivasha so fast, especially since I thought he had stopped flying in the aftermath of Gen-Z protests. Such ostentatious displays were outlawed.

From Naivasha, Prezzo Ruto magically landed inside Nyayo Stadium, where he was photographed alongside former Opposition leader Raila Odinga, as Harambee Stars were thumped by the visitors from Gabon.

The highlight of the match, unsurprisingly, were chants of Ruto Must Go, which were delivered to celebrate the team’s triumphs or humiliation on the pitch, an insightful peek into the psychology of the fans. Whether the nation’s fortunes on the pitch rose or floundered, they wanted Prezzo Ruto out.

The online chatter, however, took a different tenor. What did Kenyans expect, they lamented, when two men, Prezzo Ruto and former opposition leader Raila Odinga aka Babaa, who have become the embodiment of nuksi, or bad vibe, were in the house? Put simply, the Harambee Stars loss was directly attributed to the presence of the duo in the stadium!

This is a positive spin on parliamentary tradition of democracy by exclamation, where a collective wail is perceived as an illustration of the people’s will, now being exercised both directly and loudly.

Such a rebuke is unprecedented, not just because Kenyans don’t like to express their displeasure so openly, but also doing it before guests. We tend to hide our domes and deal with them after guests have left.

And if the presidency now jointly held with ODM (despite Baba’s denial) is seen as a symbol of national disunity and derision, that, too, is a powerful statement about our evolving democratic culture.

If the credit for this enormously successful protest should attributed to any single individual, I wonder if that remains former Deputy Prezzo Rigathi Gachagua aka Riggy G, who were told is the power behind the throne of all the dissidents plotting the ouster of Prezzo Ruto.