When President William Ruto took oath of office on September 13, 2022, his enemy had a name and a face. It was the system. It was State capture. It was former President Uhuru Kenyatta leaving empty coffers and, most impactful, Sh230 for a 2kg packet of maize flour (unga).

📋 Breaking It Down

His then deputy, Mr Rigathi Gachagua, in his inauguration speech, told Kenyans that his boss was inheriting a dilapidated economy. The problem then, was yesterday’s men.

Four years later, in August 2026, the enemy has no single name. The enemy is everywhere, looming near and large, but wearing a uniform he remotely identifies as most likely worn by Mr Kenyatta.

Currently, President Ruto is going around claiming that his predecessor is the one mobilising the opposition to kick him out in 2027.

📌 What You Need to Know

“Our president should relax. Call it electoral pressure, for all along he has mismanaged his politics to keep re-election pressure piling. But panic won’t save him. He needs to confront his challenges from a point of surgical precision,” said political commentator and scholar Prof Peter Kagwanja.

Prof Kagwanja said the ease with which President Ruto has been changing his opinion about who exactly is to blame for the perceived strong wave of national dissent against him is not doing him any good.

“We know President Ruto as a near-invincible politician who thrives under pressure. Of late, he is coming out as a man caving in, unable to know who exactly will be his competitor in 2027 and what he needs to tell the people so as to win the vote. He sometimes portrays himself as a cornered man,” he said.

It started with the handshake between Mr Kenyatta and Raila Odinga that he blamed for disturbing his nascent rule. In the first year, every economic pain was blamed on Mr Kenyatta’s borrowing and Raila’s love for protests.

The famous handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga at Harambee House in 2018.

It was then that Raila had prescribed for the country twice-weekly protests which, to President Ruto and his allies, were about getting a share of the government. To National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah, the protests were being financed by Mr Kenyatta.

📰 Source: Nation Africa