By Anderson Ojwang
President William Ruto can arguably be said to have undertaken more development projects in Nyanza than any other previous regime and presidents.
Ruto’s legacy for Nyanza will be credited on the Standard Railway Gauge and other infrastructural projects in all the counties in the region.
For President Ruto, Nyanza has become “a key political destination” as he prepares to defend his seat in the 2027 general election, hence his move toward a pre-election coalition pact with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
His forage in the region has been paying dividends, but he is fast finding himself in the late Raila Odinga political trap of ownership and cobweb.
Raila was in a political cobweb under tight control of his close allies, MPs and insiders that locked out professionals and genuine supporters. This contributed to voter apathy and loss of touch with professionals and the ground to some extent.
Raila became a political valve for use by the insiders, advisors and insiders for their own political gain at will and wish while negating his presidential ambition.
The MPs and the insiders hung on Raila’s coattails to be re-elected and elected and blocked their opponents from access.
This explains why the majority of the current MPs and leadership are unpopular.
President Ruto is currently walking and finding himself in Raila’s cobweb, which is denying him access to the genuine professionals who want to support and offer other services to his campaign.
That is why with the demise and exit of Raila from the political scene, President Ruto has become the natural replacement and valve for their political survival. It’s not about Ruto’s vote but their survival in the 2027 elections.
In President Ruto’s tours and visits of the region, the professionals and opinion leaders have been shoved to the periphery while the MPs and insiders have fenced the president off from the opponents.
For instance, at the recent Kisumu State Lodge meeting between the president and leaders from the region, some of the opinion leaders who have the links, networks and the people were relegated to the periphery.
Former Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma and former Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura were peripheral in the president’s functions and meetings in Kisumu while they have networks and people to support Ruto’s re-election.
PS Oluga’s thanksgiving service
At Ruto’s recent attendance of Health Permanent Secretary Ouma Oluga’s homecoming and thanksgiving service, former Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo, who is the most popular politician in Rarieda, was blocked from addressing the crowd.
Gumbo has contested for the Siaya gubernatorial seat in the past two elections and narrowly lost to the ODM candidates due to Raila’s political influence.
When his name was mentioned, the masses went gaga, leaving the public in awe. He was finally allowed to say jambo and the message was home.
MPs’ Agenda in Ruto’s tours
Luo MPs have been pushing to have presidential visits reserved for elected leaders exclusively; this does not work in favor of Ruto.
This is the script that played out during Raila’s era and currently the MPs have employed it successfully in Ruto’s tours, which is fast alienating the opinion leaders and professionals.
In Kisumu, former governor Jack Ranguma, Ken Obura and Fred Ouda were barred from addressing crowds, but these are solid individuals with mass support on the ground and cannot be ignored.
The biggest miscalculation is to ignore professionals who have influence and are capable of adding value, but MPs feel they will be overshadowed by brilliant ideas.
The Siaya Visit
President Ruto’s tours of Siaya were the hallmark of the script and display of theatrics by the MPs.
The MPs one after another spent time castigating Siaya Governor James Orengo over his opposition to Ruto’s re-election and did little to market the president’s agenda and his projects to the masses.
In the Siaya visit, local MPs were busy abusing each other and fronting the exit of Orengo instead of sharing programs that would impact locals or deliver the community out of poverty.
At the Gem function, MPs and leaders apologized to President Ruto over the failure by Orengo to attend the function and promised to elect a new governor in the 2027 general election.
MP Sam Atandi said in 2027, Siaya will have “a new governor,” and that Orengo will be thrown into the political dustbin.
“We are not fearing anybody. We want to announce here today that we are going to elect a new governor for Siaya,” he said.
Atandi said Orengo has failed to deliver on his mandate and has “no development record” to show residents.
Leaders present apologized to the President for Orengo’s absence and promised to unseat him in the next general election.
“Mr. President, we want to apologize. It is sad that the Governor seeks development from you, you honor the request, but he turns around to criticize you. We implore you to ignore him,” said Ugenya MP David Ochieng.
In contrast, Kasipul MP Boyd Were aptly amplified Ruto’s agenda, which resonated well with the audience and that is why Ruto agreed to his requests.
UDA brigades
President Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) team in the region is a deflated political machine that neither sways nor controls any political block in the region.
They are viewed as the bitter lot who fell out with Raila and found solace in Ruto but have no grassroots following.
This group also feels disenfranchised when professionals and opinion leaders want to access the president and are employing a similar strategy to that of ODM MPs.
Way forward
President Ruto in his game should reach out to the voters directly without having to depend on the groups to solidify his base.
