The Price of Going High: President Ruto’s Vendetta Against Uhuru Kenyatta

For five years, President Uhuru Kenyatta contended with a disrespectful deputy who preferred grandstanding over governance, often choosing to stand on sunroofs and publicly lambast his boss instead of collaborating to secure a legacy term.

When the new president, William Ruto, assumed office, there was a fleeting hope that he might honour his predecessor. Instead, Ruto has chosen the path of vendetta, unleashing state machinery against Uhuru with a pettiness that belies the gravity of the office he holds.

What began as a chaotic invasion of the Kenyatta Northlands farm by drug-bound and intoxicated ruffians under the guidance and blessing of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, freely looting exotic sheep and burning trees and buildings unhindered, soon escalated. Cabinet Secretaries stooped to the vulgar threat of urinating at Uhuru’s mother’s gate in Ichaweri. The nadir came with a dramatic raid on Uhuru’s son’s upscale residence, prompting the former President to publicly challenge Ruto, daring him to confront him directly if he had the cojones.

The depths of this pettiness were on full display recently when a photograph of Uhuru disembarking from a Uganda Airlines plane in Kinshasa surfaced. According to the Sunday Nation, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni had to send Vice President Jesica Alupo to Nairobi to collect Uhuru for the inauguration ceremony of DRC President Felix Tshisekedi on January 9, 2024. This incident starkly highlights the lengths to which Ruto will lower himself and the presidency to diminish his predecessor.

Worse still, Uhuru is being denied the monthly dues he is constitutionally entitled to as a retired president. This withholding of funds forces Uhuru to personally finance his office staff, security, and rent, while the money languishes in a government account. This petty and juvenile power play demands that Uhuru subjugate himself before Ruto to access his rightful entitlements and emoluments.

This vendetta extends beyond personal grudges, reflecting a broader pattern of persecution by William Ruto.

First, Ruto's regime targetted opposition protestors, with many remaining silent out of ideological indifference. Then it was the university students, ignored by those who had cleared their HELB loans. Next came the harassment of medical interns, unnoticed by those not born in hospitals. Now, Ruto’s administration is fixated on Uhuru, with many dismissing it as someone else's battle.

However, this erosion of justice affects us all. If we allow these injustices to persist unchecked, we risk finding ourselves isolated when it's our turn to be targeted. The persecution of Uhuru is a warning that the vendetta-driven governance of today will lead to a society where no one is safe from retribution, and when they eventually come for you, which they surely must, there will be no one left to speak out.