It is an inside job. Ruto has been an ally of both President Uhuru Kenyatta and erstwhile opposition leader Raila Odinga, lending his brand of aggressive and energetic politics to support their presidential ambitions in the past. But not anymore.
As Ruto stakes out his claim to the presidency – with his populist campaign promoting the ‘hustler nation’ – he believes he knows the strengths and weaknesses of the dynasties, and how to take them on and win.
Ruto’s message is that as a ‘self-made’ man who didn’t benefit from the privileges of the Kenyatta and Odinga dynasties, he empathises with the struggles of the average Kenyan. With that, he’s opened a class war dimension to the coming elections.
Whether Kenya, where the main political schisms are about ethnic and regional identity not class and inherited wealth, is ready for this is another matter. There are also questions about the sour
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