Inside William Ruto’s ‘ground game’

Practically an outsider in the government and facing the full force of State machinery, Deputy President William Ruto is building a campaign in Kenya and abroad as he goes all out in the search for votes and resources ahead of 2022 elections.

Added to these is the association he has established with churches, which before the Covid-19 pandemic had become his favourite avenue to reach the masses.

This week, Mr Ruto will be the chief guest in a ceremony to open a UDA party office in the US city of Seattle, Washington as part of efforts to reach out to diaspora and foreign governments.

Murangá senator Irungu Kangáta is already in the US meeting Kenyans living there and identifying the liaison office to be put up in readiness for the launch on June 18.

“We expect him to address the huge number of Kenyans here virtually on Friday. Preparations are in top gear,” Mr Kangáta confirmed to the Nation. There are also plans to open offices in Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia and Dallas, Texas.

The Seattle office will be headed by Klaire Prestige, a Kenyan who owns a vernacular station in the State. Dr Ruto wants to recruit diaspora Kenyans into UDA, get them to draft an economic blue-print to be put in his manifesto and fundraise for his campaigns.

“There is no serious candidate who does not reach out to the Kenyan diaspora and other countries that are friends of Kenya. That is the rule,” added Mr Kangáta.

His allies say Dr Ruto is building the infrastructure that will scare his opponents and help him win decisively in the first round in 2022. The fear in his camp is that a small margin of victory in 2022 could present his opponents, with support of State bureaucrats, an opportunity to manipulate the election.

‘Economic messiah’

“We are now in the opposition and the DP has to think and operate like an opposition leader facing the State juggernaut. That is why he will not take any chances. We want to win in a decisive manner,” says Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, an ally of Dr Ruto.

It is a view shared by others close to the DP that the only way he can win in 2022 is by raising his ground game and operation.

“If you look at the programme, it is a template for impacting on people the philosophy and the values of the movement. We will leave nothing to chance. We will be a comprehensive movement,” says former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar.

To popularise his bottom-up economic model, the DP has been holding economic forums supposedly to let ordinary Kenyans state their priorities that will inform the model. He was in Kilifi in May for the Coast Economic Regeneration Forum, which brought together the six counties in Coast namely Mombasa, Taita Taveta, Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu, and Tana River to outline the region’s economic plan with emphasis on tourism, maritime economy and land ownership challenges.

Earlier in May, he also met Mt Kenya leaders for what was dubbed an economic negotiation forum. Among the experts who attended was economist David Ndii, who is among the professionals now in Ruto’s camp.

This week, DP allies from Rift Valley met to identify economic demands for the region which they would want the DP to accomplish when he succeeds President Kenyatta.

A similar forum is planned for the lake region counties.

The DP has created an image of an ‘economic messiah’ with his bottom-up approach and portraying himself as the disciple of former President Mwai Kibaki that he is well-versed with the problems bedevilling each region of the country hence coming up with eight economic models covering those regions and coordinated by Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok.

DP Ruto says that the regional economic forums will help identify local economic activities, which improve the lives of citizens.

Ruto’s political vehicle

“Through the ongoing consultations covering all regions and all sectors of the economy, we anticipate the generation of more jobs and expanded opportunities for those in the lower cadre,” said DP Ruto recently.

Alongside the ongoing economic forums, beginning May 20, UDA, which has become the deputy president’s political vehicle after being frustrated in Jubilee, has been holding regional aspirants and leaders forums.

The 47 counties were collapsed into six clusters for purposes of the forums. At least three of the forums were disrupted by the police in Nandi, Meru and what was to be the culmination of the meetings in Mombasa on Thursday.

The party is identifying coordinators in counties to help oversee events.

South Mugirango MP Sylvanus Osoro, an ardent defender of the DP and his Keiyo South counterpart Daniel Rono, confirmed to the Nation that leaders in the party have been instructed to ensure that the UDA has interim officials ready to register as many members as possible.

“Leaders have agreed to identify party coordinators in their areas so that we can soldier on and minimise unnecessary fights. Having the officials will help us register as many members as possible to outsmart Jubilee party,” added Mr Rono.

The coordinators, once recruited, will play a key role in strengthening the party at the grassroots and giving it a national outlook, through membership recruitment drives, as well as the setting up of offices in the regions, to rival the Jubilee party and other political outfits ahead of the race to State House.

UDA secretary-general Veronica Maina said they want to hold grassroots elections to elect ward, constituency and county officials as it seeks to expand its ground operation. They are looking to the aspirants for various party positions and those eyeing elective positions in 2022 to use the grassroots elections to popularise the party.

“The aspirants’ engagement exercise is continual. The whole exercise is therefore a part of the bigger philosophy of a bottom-up approach,” said Ms Maina.

UDA’s fight-back plan

She says that in what is their broader scheme of solidifying their bases as succession of President Uhuru Kenyatta gears up, they would like to get ideas from the aspirants on how best the party can be managed.

The Sunday Nation has established that the just-concluded countrywide meet-the-aspirant tours is part of UDA’s elaborate fight-back plan aimed at slashing a pie of the Jubilee Party support base ahead of next year’s polls.

Besides the aspirants’ forums, the party is conducting a membership registration drive, largely online in a move to strengthen presence nationally, saying that as a new party, they have to be felt everywhere.

“Our membership is growing, we want as many members as possible to help us grow our party,” said Ms Maina, adding that they are targeting every corner of the country.

The DP’s ground operation began through churches where he had multiple fundraisers every week. Through the churches he has been able to reach the masses and earned the support of many clergy.

However, with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the implementation of restrictions on public gathering, he seems to have slowed down.

Meanwhile, allies of Dr Ruto have also been forming political parties ahead of 2022 to popularise the ‘hustler’ narrative. The DP has now surrounded himself with political party leaders that appear to have no plan to dissolve their outfits as happened when 12 parties gave way for the formation of Jubilee in 2016.

Parties that have emerged that support the DP’s ‘hustler’ movement include the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Omingo Magara, Chama cha Mashinani (CCM) led by Isaac Ruto, The Service Party (TSP) led by former Cabinet secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri and People’s Empowerment Party (PEP), which recently won the Juja by-election over a Jubilee candidate.

According to Mr Magara, talks are ongoing to ensure that the agenda of affiliate parties does not interfere with their 2022 presidential goal.

Bottom-up economic model

“PDP and UDA share everything including the bottom-up economic model, this is a work on progress because we have a clear purpose and focus that Ruto becomes President and whatever it takes to make that happen, we are willing to sacrifice, this country requires a rebirth,” he said.

On the other hand, the DP has now surrounded himself with professionals and top technocrats who help fine-tune his strategies. They consist of well-known economists, political experts and veteran political leaders from around the country.

He has as his advisers and strategists Dr Ndii, former Central Bank Governor Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, Prof Larry Gumbe and management consultant and strategist Eliud Owalo who previously were with ODM leader Raila Odinga, Prof Edward Kisiangani, Dr Mugambi Mureithi, Prof Raphael Munavu, and communications expert Barrack Muluka.

Bearing in mind the huge number of youthful voters, he has rolled out a programme targeting the young entrepreneurs and given them donations to improve their lot and cushion them against the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The DP’s social engagements have not only been defined by donations to the youth but he has also embraced church, boda boda harambee among others which has so far been stopped by the pandemic.

Before the virus crisis, Dr Ruto used to attend more than two fundraisers every weekend across the country and this has also given him the image of a God-fearing politician despite his political foe ODM leader Raila Odinga incessantly questioning the source of his money.

The continuous delegations to DP’s Karen residence, Nairobi or Sugoi, Uasin Gishu are avenues of Dr Ruto to start constituting campaign committees from the village level in every corner of Kenya in a move to solidify his popularity.

“We have realised that everyone should be involved in campaign, we are going the Ujamaa way of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) where campaign committees begin from the village levels upwards and no one is left out,” UDA chairperson Johnstone Muthama elucidated in an interview with the Nation.

Reporting by Walter Menya, Silas Apollo and Onyango K’onyango