POLITICAL GENIUS OR PERSONAL INTEREST? President Ruto “Tano Tena”

By Prof. Dr. Halimu Shauri

Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com

WOW! The unfolding events in Kenyan politics have left some of us see a mix of interests and genius depending on which side of the political divide one chooses to use their analytical lenses.

On one hand, it is clear politics is a game where personal interests are choreographed to fit and are sold as public interests.

It’s clear for example that there is no opposition party but what exists is politicians with opposing personal interests packaged as public interests.

Ideally, the public or the voters are fed with the wrong fodder to believe that political parties represent their interests and that the ruling party is the voice of the majority, while the opposition party, the voice of the minority.

Looking at Kenya today one sees politicians having spread their lies in the scorching sun of Isiolo Town at noon, where no darkness can camouflage your vision to see the white lies of politics.

From the ruling coalition you have witnessed the events and actions mounted to defend personal interests going even to the extent of loss and damage of property and loss of lives to defend what we were socialized to believe it as public interest, yet we see the personal interests loaded in the actions.

Our minds and eyes see the personal interests of politicians in the so-called public interests, but the same mind and eyes were trained not to see it as personal but public interests.

Accordingly, to interpret and see personal interests in politically sold public interests needs serious resocialization.

Conversely, the self-interests forming as opposition voices of the people has been exposed if events going on in the country are anything to go by.

It is obvious in Kenya that there is no opposition. What exists is an aggregation of personal interests packaged as public interests and sold to the public or voters as such. 

We form strong emotional bonds as the public or voters and are psychologically sexed into believing that a batch of politicians with personal interests’ volunteer to push and die for our public interests.

This lie has come to the open several times in Kenya but now it’s obviously obvious.

History has it that the late President Moi left his KADU to join Kenyatta in KANU. History has it that The Right honourable Prime Minister Raila left his party to Join Moi. History has it that Raila said Kibaki “tosha” and Joined Kibaki. History has that Raila joined Uhuru in the famous handshake.

The nascent events validate history by showing the same Raila, the opposition doyen joining HE Ruto. The later too has had his history of joining others.

He joined and was a student of Moi. He joined Raila. He joined Uhuru in the “mbele pamoja” that became “mbele mbali mbali” and now he is joining with Raila.

History is complete because the joiners have joined, and Moi must be happy in his grave his students have finally conjoined. While there was and is all this joining, the personal interest is obviously obvious.

In the nascent exposure of personal interests taking centre stage over public interests is the decision to kill a vibrant opposition just to service personal interests and probably egos.

The Right Prime Minister, the ODM party leader is contesting the Africa Union position, meaning he must exit from ODM as the party leader.

The first deputy party leader Ali Hassan Joho is becoming a cabinet secretary in Ruto’s government, meaning he must resign from his ODM position and so is counterpart Wycliffe Oparanya, the second deputy party leader.

The ODM chairman John Mbadi is on his way to becoming the treasury cabinet secretary, meaning he must resign too from his ODM party position to join government.

Ruto has infected ODM with the GenZees virus by being now leaderless. 

Allow me to ask you, the reader: is ODM alive or dead?

This brings me to the second theme of this article, which is genius, after demonstrating to you about personal interests sold as public interests by politicians to the voters.

Alas! President Ruto was not state crafting what we believed is a new Cabinet, but his stay in power in 2027, “tano tena” by dismantling the core of oppositional politics, ODM or Railamania, in Kenyan political space.

As we speak, all critical thinkers can see what the new cabinet nominees portend for ODM and the president come 2027.

The President single handedly has turned the political tables for the opposition and we Kenyans have been inoculated to believe the changes are in public interests.

As if that is not enough, the genius Ruto has successfully led a coup and transferred foreign debt headache, high taxation, high cost of living, power blackouts, inaccessible higher education, CBC “manenos” to ODM, through its own CS nominee Mbadi.

As the treasury CS, he must have the magic to get Kenya out of the hole or he will smell the shit and the strength of the smell of the shit will spill over to ODM party.

The genius Ruto has thrown a bucket of shit that GenZees wanted him to clean up to ODM.

I leave you with the question: is President Ruto’s cabinet nominees from the opposition meant to stabilize the nation or have personal interest and exhibit political genius? Let’s observe the unfolding Kenyan political movie.

Prof. Dr. Halimu Shauri Consultant Sociologist & Dean School of Humanities and Social Sciences PWANI UNIVERSITY