There is an imminent government reshuffle for the key cabinet positions, the second time in the past four months. Former Bomet governor Isaac Ruto is among the shortlisted candidates for one of the cabinet positions.
After the general elections in 2017, it was rumored that Uhuru Kenyatta was considering Isaac Ruto for one of the cabinet positions. The same was echoed by former Bomet Governor the late Joyce Laboso in 2018. But on both occasions, Isaac Ruto never got the positions. Could it be that this time round he is lucky to get the much awaited appointment? Well, most people will not be surprised as there is some wind going around in social media that he is one of the people being considered to join Uhuru Kenyatta’s government in the next cabinet reshuffles that is expected within days, although the question is which ministry will he be awarded to?
As the chairman of Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM), Isaac Ruto has held a cabinet position before and the highest ranking in his career has been as a county governor of Bomet. Other than that, Mr. Ruto has been an elected member of Chepalungu constituency since 2002 and only left this position after being elected as the Bomet governor in 2013. He unsuccessfully ran for gubernatorial re-election for Bomet County in 2017 but lost to the late Joyce Laboso. Isaac Ruto has served as an assistant minister in the ministry of Education and assistant minister in the Ministry of Agriculture in 1998 and 1999 respectively during the Moi administration. He was appointed as a minister of Environment and Natural Resources in 2001.
Joining The NASA Principals
Isaac Ruto is a very unique individual but widely seen as indecisive. He joined National Super Alliance (NASA) and became one of the co-principals in April 2017. He campaigned together with the other principals including Raila Odinga, Musalia Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula until August when they lost the election to Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto’s Jubilee Party. But a month later after the defeat, Mr. Isaac Ruto ditched NASA and joined the Jubilee Party in September of 2017.
From that point, there has been speculations that Mr. Isaac Ruto was joining Uhuru’s government and so on and so forth but such rumors never materialized. There are several reasons why this time round he might get one of the coveted government positions.
Reasons Why Isaac Ruto May Get Appointed To A Cabinet Position Soon
There is no question that the relationship between William Ruto and his boss Uhuru Kenyatta has soured and even turned hostile. Kenya being a hotly tribalist country, Uhuru Kenyatta’s strategists may try to minimize the fall-out between the president and the deputy president in the sense that they may still need the Kalenjin vote not only during the 2022 elections, but also during the proposed referendum.
The last thing Uhuru’s team want is to marginalize the Kalenjin community, something that is a reality by dumping one of their own, William Ruto. By getting Isaac Ruto on board together with Gideon Moi, William Ruto’s influence will be minimized to a greater extent.
Other than Isaac Ruto and Gideon Moi, other Kalenjin leaders who support Uhuru Kenyatta includes the Cherangany Member of Parliament Joshua Kuttuny and Tiaty Member of Parliament William Kamket. Uhuru Kenyatta may also get Isaac Ruto into government just to make his team look diverse hence support the BBI propaganda.
Isaac Ruto looks promising as he is a supporter of both Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta at the same time. This is because he supported the NASA team after he abandoned his Chama Cha Mashinani(CCM) in 2017, joined NASA and then abandoned the latter when he eventually joined the Jubilee Party. His dual support of the two titans will come in hand as he will be a loyalist and eventually a surrogate for the BBI movement not only in Bomet country but the surrounding regions as well. Isaac Ruto is seen as a potential successful political ally in the yet to be formed Uhurao government in 2022.
Also, Isaac Ruto is still nursing wounds from his loss in 2017 for the gubernatorial Bomet County governorship and it is very likely that he learnt his lesson to align himself with the winning Jubilee Party since it is from this particular party he tasted the humiliating defeat at the hands of a woman (Joyce Laboso). It should not be forgotten that the Kalenjin community is chiefly a patriarchal society in which losing to a woman is frowned upon! Uhuru Kenyatta may also be trying to maintain the “quota” for Kalenjin government positions in his team. Whereas he cannot sack his deputy president, he has the power to sack the other cabinet members, especially those who have not seen the “writing in the wall” as far as William Ruto is concerned and continue supporting the latter.
Among the William Ruto supporters includes the Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen. There has been some rumors going around that Mr. Murkomen may be on his way out as far as Uhuru Kenyatta’s government is concerned. This means Murkomen will either quit or be canned by Uhuru Kenyatta as he is the main vocal supporter of the deputy president.
