Ruto speaks national unity but his government polarises

He titled his inauguration speech, delivered three years ago today, A Kenya for Everyone, an indication that achieving unity and inclusivity were pressing priorities, equal in importance to fixing a debt-strained economy.

Before a crowd of about 60,000 at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, President William Ruto vowed to work for every Kenyan, regardless of how they voted in the 2022 elections.

“Their supporters will be my constituents. I will work with all Kenyans irrespective of who they voted for,” the new president said of his competitors’ supporters, a message he would emphasise throughout his speech, which leaned more towards constitutionalism.

When Dr Ruto made the speech, Kenya had just emerged from a nail-biting presidential election, which he won with the slimmest of margins.

Half the country had revelled in his victory. The other half, made up of his main competitor Raila Odinga’s supporters, was dejected.

There was an urgent need to assuage the frustrations of the latter group, which sometimes was hard to come by amid the gloating by Ruto’s allies.

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua relished rubbing in Raila’s loss on the former premier’s supporters.

On his grandest stage yet, Gachagua could not resist the urge to dig in, terming their election a rejection of intimidation and coercion.

“Freedom is here with us,” said a charged Gachagua, who ranted about the hurdles he said were placed on their way, such as criminal persecution.

In the months that followed, he would rattle many with suggestions that equated Kenya to a shareholding entity, which he later accused Ruto of pushing him into advancing.

Ruto walked into the presidency amid less pronounced divisions within the country. The 2022 presidential election, as bitterly contested as it was, was largely peaceful, with the country showing some eagerness to move on from the polls.

Despite this sense of unity, it was important to pull everyone together. Ruto, by word at least, strived to do so in the early days of his presidency.

He reached out to the opposition, urging them to confine themselves to playing their oversight role, even as he moved to weaken them by influencing defections.

When he announced his Cabinet soon after, there were indications that perhaps Ruto was not as committed to walking the talk of inclusivity fully.

His Cabinet comprised nine ministers from the Mt Kenya region and four from the Rift Valley.

These two communities accounted for half of the Cabinet and produced 27 principal secretaries in Ruto’s first government, more than half of the 51 principal secretary slots.

Doubtless, the appointments had everything to do with the pre-election arrangements he made with allies within the Kenya Kwanza coalition, to some extent, founded, like most coalitions, along ethnic lines.

Many considered Ruto’s move as contradicting his unending praise of that year’s polls as one that had conquered the ethnic influences that drive Kenya’s elections.

“This day comes on the back of a peaceful election following an intense, issue-based campaign, in which major coalitions, made up of strong political parties, canvassed their agenda for examination by the people of Kenya,” Ruto said on his inauguration.

Indeed, he had been elected mostly by voters from the Mount Kenya region, who also had spared some votes for Raila.

Both candidates performed relatively well across the regions, excluding their would-be strongholds, an indication that ethnic considerations were not as apparent when compared to previous polls.

When the Head of State chose to ‘reward’ loyalty as his prime consideration for appointing members of his executive, many observers were up in arms.

Ruto got the chance to right his wrongs when he was forced to dismiss his Cabinet amid youth-led protests in July 2024 and a later shuffle of his government in December, but chose to retain the majorities of the ethnic blocs that supported his election.

 “Any attempt by Ruto to unilaterally select Cabinet members without reflecting the diversity, equity, and inclusivity mandated by the Constitution undermines the people’s sovereignty and the principles of democracy,” the Kenya Human Rights Commission, a non-governmental organisation that advocates proper governance, said last December.

“Such actions contravene the public’s trust and obligation to exercise power in the people’s interest.”

Mathira Member of Parliament Eric Wamumbi, a staunch ally of Ruto’s, said the Cabinet reflected the face of Kenya.

“For the first time, we have almost all regions represented. We have a Cabinet Secretary from Turkana, with more from other regions in top government organs,” he said.

Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi says the perceived ethnic imbalance would not have mattered if Ruto “had a working team in place.”

“Kenyans would not mind having a Cabinet filled with brothers and sisters as long as it was delivering for them,” he said.

There were worrying signs about Ruto’s campaign messaging, which often pitted Kenya’s “hustlers”, its young strivers, against the “dynasties,” those deemed to be privileged.

Ruto cast himself as a commoner who once sold chickens to survive, and his opponents as having been born into wealth and far removed from the everyday issues the ordinary Kenyan faces.

Many observers faulted the narrative, which the President still struggles to abandon, for its potential to spark class wars.

“Sloganeering is a very dangerous thing. Our people must not allow our country to go to the dogs,” Raila said of the Hustlers versus Dynasty talk in January 2021.

Ruto still resorts to potentially divisive narratives, especially when pushing controversial policies, such as his flagship affordable housing project, which he claimed had faced opposition from the privileged, who did not want the country’s poor to match up to them.

Some of his allies have recently seemed to advance a narrative that suggests the next election would be a battle of Nilotes against Bantus, similarly peddled within Gachagua’s corner, which has adopted a “cousins” slogan for their coalition that seeks to bring together select regions.

Francis Owakah, a philosopher who teaches at the University of Nairobi, said that Ruto was “never interested in national unity.”

“His goal was to have his cronies make money so that they can continue to influence politics,” said Dr Owakah. “Kenyans are united in sadness, but remain divided. Until we build the spirit of patriotism, we shall never be truly united.”

Gitile Naituli, a professor of leadership and management, concurred, saying Ruto’s actions over the last three years would push the next polls into an “ethnically-charged contest.”

“Kenyans shunned tribalism to elect Ruto, but he has returned them there, not just through his appointments, but the narratives peddled by State functionaries,” said Prof Naituli.

Unifying the country has been a recurring theme in the President’s speeches. For months, he has shunned his former deputy for advancing divisions, criticising the “shareholding” remarks that significantly contributed to Gachagua’s impeachment last October.

Unity means different things to different people. Among the political class, it has always meant having themselves in an exclusive circle, inspired by apparent selfish needs. For Ruto, these needs include political survival.

Amid youth-led protests that threatened his very hold of power, Ruto reached out to Raila to form their ‘broad-based’ government.

With some semblance of stability, the Commander-in-Chief would turn his back on promises he made to the youth, such as ending abductions and police brutality, which persisted.

“The problem with politicians is that they think that when they are together, the country is united,” said Mwangangi.

The pattern to which Mwangangi refers can be traced to former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure. When he shook hands with Raila in March 2018, the pair saw themselves as unifying the country, even though they alienated Ruto, then the deputy president.

“Ruto thought he would purchase the country when he brought Raila on board, but he only succeeded in uniting Kenyans more against him and his government’s brutality,” added Mwangangi. “Kenyans have always been united. It is the political class who have wanted to divide them.”

Among Kenyans, unity has been an evolving subject over the last three years. In the first year of Ruto’s presidency, there seemed to be an urge by Kenyans to get the elections behind them. In the second year, Kenyans would rally behind the push for more bearable living costs, a grievance that was carried into Ruto’s third year.

“Unity, to me, means having all of us walking towards one goal, like our Generation Z and Millennials did when they rejected last year’s finance Bill,” said Zacharia Kamau, an agribusinessman who lives in Nairobi. “We are united in our desire for good leadership and ensuring that all of us make steps in life.”

Kamau said he was concerned that the country was sharply divided, first between the “haves and have-nots” and among the political class. He said the latter had affected the masses, who have tended to align with Kenya’s politicos.

Indeed, many supporters of Raila have shown leaning towards Ruto since the pair partnered in July last year.

That has been evident in the cordial reception extended to the Head of State in previously hostile regions like Nyanza, Raila’s backyard.

The region, which voted heavily for Raila in the last polls, participated actively in last year’s youth-led demonstrations over tax hikes, as well as the anti-government demonstrations of the previous year staged over similar grievances. Ruto’s partnership with Raila flipped the President’s fortunes like a switch.

The counter effect was witnessed in Gachagua’s Mount Kenya backyard, where Ruto secured some 40 per cent of his votes in 2022.

Ruto’s popularity took a hit following Gachagua’s impeachment, resulting from a falling out between the two.

On social media, differences in opinion between ethnic groups have emerged in recent months over the political positions respective communities seem to be taking or assumed previously. That feud has been significantly fed by ethnically-laced narratives against some communities that seem opposed to Kenya Kwanza.

The reality of skirmishes is not lost on Kenya. In 2007, the country almost descended into a civil war following a disputed presidential election.The violence that greeted the controversial re-election of the late President Mwai Kibaki claimed more than 1,000, displacing more than 600,000. Politicians were believed to have largely fanned the flames.

Prof Naituli says a repeat of that seems unlikely under Kenya’s current circumstances, arguing that the differences were mostly among politicians.

“If you follow what is said on social media, you will think we are killing each other on the streets,” said Naituli. “Social media is for the elite, who tend to be very tribal. But the reality is that Kenyans don’t really hate each other, they just compete passionately for power.”

Wamumbi says the President had done well to unite the country by working for every region, transforming the lives of many Kenyans at the grassroots.

“Even Jesus Christ did not succeed in unifying everyone. Some opposed and crucified him, only to realise later that he was the Son of God,” said Wamumbi.

Kamau says he voted for Ruto in 2022 believing the Head of State had the best intentions for Kenya. But now, he says, he cannot trust him to unify the country owing to the runaway corruption in the government and what he argues are signs of poor leadership.