Two press conferences at Parliament buildings on Wednesday, March 11, made it clear that the battle lines have been drawn in the Kenyan political landscape ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
More than 50 Kieleweke MPs allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga had issued a statement calling for Ruto to step aside over his alleged failure to support the president. Hours later, their Tangatanga counterparts allied to Ruto gathered outside Parliament to declare that Ruto's resignation would not be conceivable.
The events took place with talk of impeaching the deputy president rife in the background, and Ruto himself has in recent days openly lamented that 'the system' was after him.
In a conversation with Kenyans.co.ke on Thursday, March 12, renowned political analyst and University of Nairobi (UoN) don Herman Manyora shared his thoughts on the dramatic happenings on the political scene, explaining why he believes the deputy president is falling into a trap set for him by Uhuru and Raila.
Manyora maintained that the recent hard-hitting press conferences were a ploy by Uhuru and Raila to force Ruto to come out openly against the president and subsequently, turn Uhuru's Mt. Kenya backyard against the deputy president.
By accusing the system of being against him, Manyora observed that Ruto was already falling into the trap as 'the system' could be perceived as a veiled reference to the President.
"Tangatanga are falling into a trap. Ruto is being pushed to say and do things that will make him lose favour with the mountain by painting him as opposing Uhuru, and he is falling into the trap.
"When he says or does these things, Uhuru will go to Mt Kenya and tell the people, you see, this is why I cannot work with this man.
"These press conferences also allow Uhuru and Raila to see exactly who is standing with Ruto so that they can begin to isolate and attack them," he explained.
Manyora claimed that the plan by the Uhuru-Raila faction was to relentlessly attack Ruto and his allies until 2022, by which time he would be fatigued and his footsoldiers depleted. He predicted that after trying to turn Mt. Kenya against Ruto, they would seek to get Ruto's Rift Valley backyard to follow suit by propping up Baringo Senator Gideon Moi.
"Soon, they'll forget about the mountain and they'll start attacking him from home through Gideon Moi.
"This is war. You know that in war soldiers get fatigued, they get exhausted. They are setting him up to lose members of his team such that by 2022 he will be alone," he observed.
He further asserted that any plot to impeach Ruto would fail not because of a lack of numbers in Parliament but because it would strengthen the DP.
"Those talking about impeachment are joking, they cannot do it. The president will put an end to this because he knows it will only serve to strengthen him and galvanise his supporters. It is not about numbers, Uhuru can marshall the numbers when needed.
"Ruto has been playing the victim card very well. He introduced the hustler narrative and now he has introduced the very dangerous narrative of the system.
"Those talking about impeachment are politically naive, they should come to Manyora for strategy. Theirs is a strategy of containment where they want to keep him always reacting, denying him space and time to craft his own strategies and narratives," Manyora observed.
