The many faces of President William Ruto

President William Ruto wears many faces and means different things to different people. While some perceive him as a crafty, benevolent leader who is quick to reward loyalty, others are wary of crossing his path for fear of reprisals.

Ever the masterful politician, the president has used his contradictory qualities to achieve his political goals, the most consequential of which is the presidency in last year's election.

In a country where power remains a magnet, President Ruto has used his position to attract new allies, with his famed persuasion, deflating the opposition as he cements his hold. The opposition sees this as a move aimed at entrenching autocracy.

While the president uses power to entice politicians, he depicted himself as a commoner, "a hustler" to win the masses. A spirited portrayal of himself as an outsider in his government made sure that Ruto's candidacy was not bogged down by the legacy of his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta.

After being victimised by the political elite ("dynasties"), Ruto used this to his advantage and ultimately made the Head of State he was deputizing seem like the underdog in last year's contest with Raila Odinga.

Almost a year into his presidency, Ruto is making use of his talents. Faced with opposition protests, one of the president's toughest headaches, The head of state vowed to stay firm, later yielding to calls for dialogue.

He initiated the first round of the bipartisan talks by reaching out to Raila and his Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition party and accepted talks over the reconstitution of the electoral commission, a process that was ongoing.

But as Raila would later admit, the president was merely keeping the opposition busy as he pushed his agenda. When the former prime minister announced a fresh wave of protests nearly a month ago, he and Rarieda lawmaker Otiende Amollo, who led the initial talks, accused the president of lacking good faith and of taking them in circles.

Raila would make the same remarks a few days ago when he said Ruto had never been serious about the talks, revealing that the Commander-in-Chief had snubbed Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu in her efforts to bring the pair to the table.

"If the president wanted to meet me, he would not invite me through social media. He knows my address and telephone number. He is basically just playing games. That is like a public relations exercise," Raila said after Ruto extended an olive branch on Twitter.

The former premier's assertions revealed a cunning Ruto who knew just how to contain the opposition. Later when the two sat in a meeting convened by former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo, Ruto would play the victim before the mediator, accusing Raila and Uhuru of looking down on him because he did not come from a prominent family, as revealed by sources aware of the deliberations.

Ruto has other strong suits, too. Patient and calculating, the president knows the battles to pick. Concerned that a confrontation with his former boss would paint him in a bad light, Ruto initially held off on picking fights with him.

Satisfied that the public frustration over the high cost of living during Uhuru's sunset days in office had climaxed, the then-deputy president went all out against his former boss, painting himself as some sort of change.

"Ruto is a very good politician who knows how to turn things around to his favour. He is calculative and has a sweet tongue that endears him to his supporters," says University lecturer Macharia Munene.

Reticence has never been a quality associated with the president. On Tuesday, his cabinet secretaries learnt that firsthand. In full public glare, Ruto unleashed his disciplinarian side, lashing at some who were late for their performance contract-signing event at State House and at the clueless elements within his government. And to stamp his authority, he demanded an explanation letter from the latecomers locked outside for their lateness.

Prof Munene believes Ruto exposed himself by blasting his CSs in public, stating that he probably did not think through his remarks.

"It raises questions about himself because he appointed them. If he knew that they were incompetent then he shouldn't have appointed them, which also questions his competence," adds the historian and foreign relations expert. "By calling them incompetent he is demoralising the targetted lot, raising concerns about his judgment."

University lecturer Gitile Naituli concurs, stating that the public lashing of his CSs will breed insubordination, even as he accuses the president of lamenting when he has the power to act.

"He hired the ministers and principal secretaries and in his one-year evaluation, he has found that some are incompetent. Why hasn't he fired them? He has no right to complain as he is the CEO with such powers. What his lamentations say is that the president has no clue about what to do," says Prof Naituli, who is affiliated with Azimio.

East Africa Legislative Assembly lawmaker Kanini Kega justifies Ruto's actions as driven by the president's professionalism and attention to detail.

"I sympathise with his CSs because he has immense knowledge of what is happening in all the ministries. He is always committed to the cause and will go to any lengths to achieve his objectives," says Kega.

Like many of Ruto's choices, his cabinet secretaries sailed through Parliament's vetting exercise effortlessly. Only Tourism CS Peninah Malonza suffered a scare as the appointments committee initially recommended her rejection.

An attempt by Azimio to have some of the CSs rejected was doomed to fail courtesy of their inferior numbers in Parliament. 

"Looking at this Cabinet in totality, my fear is that we are approving a Cabinet that is not competent... I think the mindset of the appointing authority was not on service delivery... this is a Cabinet that was influenced by political expediency... the president is simply telling us that we give him a Cabinet that is not going to function because he is ready to run the entire government machinery, system and structure from State House using advisors," Nominated Member of Parliament John Mbadi said then.

The opposition coalition was concerned that some of the president's nominees were incompetent and fell short of the educational and professional standards required. But Ruto would have none of it. Like he has done several times since then, the Head of State would not go back on his decisions.

Another decision that has exposed his rigidity is his position on the controversial Finance Act 2023, which earned him criticism for bullying MPs into voting for it.

In recent weeks, the opposition has painted him as a bully for his and the police's actions against opposition protesters, which has resulted in many deaths, as well as the arrest of politicians on flimsy charges that never take off and unconstitutional detentions.

Opposition leaders have reminded the promise Ruto made that he would not "weaponise" the criminal justice system to persecute rivals, an accusation that has the opposition threatening to sue Inspector General of the Police Japhet Koome at the International Criminal Court.

The president has seemed to speak from both sides of the mouth regarding respect for the rule of law, a key tenet of his campaigns last year. While he promised to respect independent institutions, State agencies such as the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority have ignored express court orders, such as the previous suspension of the 16 per cent value-added tax on fuel.

Rights bodies have also faulted the State for unconstitutionally "outlawing" opposition demonstrations, a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

Ruto also faces claims of being a vengeful president for the police's treatment of Uhuru and his family, including the withdrawal of security guarding Kenya's founding First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta.

Prof Naituli argues that the president should commence legal action against his predecessor if he has done anything wrong instead of persecuting him.

"Why would he go against a person who retired? He should follow the example set in the United States where a former president has been indicted," he states.

Such traits are a far cry from the religious figure the president would like the nation to know he is. Famed for Church donations, mostly in Mt Kenya,  a region that welcomed Christianity with open arms as it shunned the accompanying colonialism, Ruto deployed the religious card, with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua describing their candidacy as "God's" ticket.

To further the religious agenda, Ruto still attends Church services without fail and holds prayers and fasting sessions at State House, where he got rid of the bar that existed previously.

Kega has been a foe and ally of the president, and he does not see him as vengeful.

"If he was, he would have not accommodated many of us. He understands that people differ politically but he doesn't keep grudges," says the Eala MP, who describes Ruto as a "serious gentleman" who values friendship.

When he assumed office, Ruto expressed his interest in cutting government wastage and pushed for a series of austerity interventions. Last year, as government functionaries trashed his calls for austerity by marshalling the grandest delegations to a meeting at a Mt Kenya resort, the president slammed them, asserting that the officials would foot the bills of the joyriders.

The same message was made clear last week as Ruto capped the Executive's trips to 45 a year and limited delegations to four persons. The directive came in the wake of months of whistle-stop foreign trips by the president and his Cabinet that are sure to have blown millions if not billions.

During the period in which the president urged frugality, his and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's offices exhausted their annual budgets by February. The Executive Office of the President had spent Sh9.09 billion against the annual estimate of Sh8.64 billion.

Also on the flipside of his austerity calls includes Ruto's botched appointment of 50 chief administrative secretaries, a move that would have bloated the country's wage bill, amid mounting public debt. 

"The opposition has raised the issue of the cost of living, which is a symptom of government wastage and corruption. Ruto is incapable of feeling the people's pain and he still doubts that he won the election. That is why he is still campaigning," says Prof Naituli.

Ruto is currently pushing his image as a Pan-African and is collecting standing ovations for his fiery speeches that call for a united continent as he slams the global north for taking the global south for a ride for the longest time. 

But he is equally infamous for his and the government's diplomatic goofs, with one of the more recent earning a rebuke from a faction of the Sudanese army, which allegedly promised consequences if Kenya was to invade the country.

Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria made the suggestion that the African Union should invade the strife-torn nation, coming days after Ruto told the warring Sudanese generals to "stop the nonsense".

In his early days as president Ruto also announced that Kenya would not recognise Western Sahara, a decision that he rescinded almost immediately.

More recently, there have been concerns over how he plans to navigate Kenya's relations with the West and the East, with the poorly-handled State visit of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi last month nearly causing the government blushes.