William the 5th: How Ruto went from streets to Kenyan presidency
17" Aug"2022"SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
Nairobi, Kenya – On Monday, Kenya’s electoral commission announced Deputy President William Ruto as the winner of its August 9 polls.
The announcement signalled that Ruto had outsmarted two of his former bosses and allies – perennial aspirant Raila Odinga and his backer, sitting President Uhuru Kenyatta – in the race to become the country’s fifth president
On the campaign trail, Ruto skillfully avoided ethnicity, a major factor in Kenyan politics.
Instead, he framed the narrative as a class war between the haves and have-nots, given his humble beginnings and the political dynasties his rivals came from.
By doing that, he “mobilised inequalities and the gap between rich and poor” and “undermined mobilisation of politics along...
