Former President Daniel Moi was an embattled and loathed man in the early '90s. He was facing woes from all corners, from a crumbling economy to an increasingly emboldened electorate agitating for democracy.
He tried for a long time to silence them all, but seeing that his efforts were amounting to futility, he bowed to pressure on December 3, 1991, and announced the repeal of section 2A of the constitution that had abolished multipartism.
That was the beginning of even deeper woes for him. For the first time, President Moi faced competition for the top seat.
Friends who had been hanging around him took advantage of the constitutional leeway and took off to other parties, leaving behind a man starved of politically experienced stalwarts.
He was not the only one who was worried about the changing state of affairs though.
Sons of politicians, knowing that their future in the lucrative political atmosphere depended on Moi, met at the Boulevard Hotel on January 5, 1992, for a drink, and there, the idea of a young league to campaign for Moi began.
This led to the formation of a youth wing known as Kanu National Youth Wing (YK92), and Cyrus Jirongo was proposed to lead it, then only 23 years of age.
William Ruto, straight out of Nairobi University, where he had graduated with a Bachelors' Degree in Zoology and Botany, was nominated as the organizing secretary.
With a group of hungry, and eager to please youth firm in his grip, Moi, who was reported to be holding his cards close to his chest, launched his second weapon.
On July 14, 1992, the then-Attorney General, Amos Wako, brought the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill to the House, seeking to remove the ceiling previously imposed on election expenditure by candidates.
This paved the way for the distribution of money that Moi had ordered to be printed specifically for bribing voters, now that he had the financial willpower that his opposition members did not, and that there was no cap for expenditure during campaigns.
It was the enthusiastic YK92 members that were set loose to spread the notes all over the country, and are alleged to have been behind the chaos that was meted on opposition politicians campaigning against Mzee Moi.
President Moi won the controversy-ridden elections, and Ruto and Jirongo were rewarded with various positions in Kanu, but Ruto had bigger ambitions.
In 1997, the 31-year-old Ruto declared his interest in the Eldoret North Parliamentary seat, much to Moi's chagrin, edging out Reuben Chesire in the nominations, and then winning the seat for 2 consecutive terms.
He escalated his ambitions not long after and declared his desire to run for the presidency, only to lose out to Raila in the nominations. He was however rewarded with several ministerial positions before a bitter fallout with Raila, the prime minister in 2010.
He declared his interest in the top seat again in 2013, only to rescind his desire in favor of Uhuru's Kenyatta's candidature for the presidency while he walked behind him as his deputy.
Of all the young people whose character began over that drink in 1992, only DP Ruto and Cyrus Jirongo are the only relevant names echoing the era that, until today, is shrouded in secrecy and controversy.
