Osinbajo, Ruto: divided by distrust and defiance

Both men were vice presidents, whose serendipitous circumstances made them interim presidents. For Nigerian professor Oluyemi Osinbajo, it was the health problems of his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari, that opened the window of opportunity for him to sit at the pinnacle of political power in the country.

For his part, William Ruto became interim president, when his director, Uhuru Kenyatta, became involved in the saga of the International Criminal Court to answer questions about his role in the post-election violence that followed the polls. 2007 in the country. Formally communicating his decision to hand over power to Ruto in parliament, President Kenyatta wrote: “To protect the sovereignty of the Republic of Kenya, I will sign a legal notice appointing Hon. William Ruto as interim president, while I attend the status conference. Thus, Ruto officially served as interim president from October 6-9, 2014 while President Kenyatta was away in The Hague. It is possible that the Kenyan politician had his eyes on the big office. The opportunity to act therefore came as an encouragement that he was on the right track. On September 13, 2022, Ruto was sworn in as Kenya's fifth president. As the evangelical Christian was sworn in in Nairobi, many Nigerians, who traced the contrasting traits between his political odyssey and that of Professor Osinbajo, could not help but wonder why and how the Nigerian Vice President missed his Ruto moment. in the run up to the country's presidential election. Ruto and Osinbajo shared great contrasts in their political life history and backgrounds, so it would have been easy for Kenya and Nigeria to flaunt their age-old twinning in national development. Prior to serving as the 11th Vice President of Kenya, Ruto served in various administrations, where he served in the offices of Ministers of Home Affairs, Agriculture and Education. Having worked with the country's leaders, including Daniel Arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, the new president felt exposed and experienced enough for elected terms. First for an MP and then for Vice President through the United Republican Party, which positioned him as Kenyatta's running mate of the National Alliance (TNA). While Ruto won the 2017 elections with Kenyatta under the Jubilee Party, his aspiration for the top job in 2022 did not receive support from his manager, Kenyatta, who was more inclined towards his former rival, Raila Odinga. Ruto's decision to take his political destiny into his own hands meant that he had to brave the odds and seek the mandate of the Kenyan people through the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) platform. And it paid off. All in all, it was evident that Ruto's years as a volunteer mobilizer for Moi, as well as his political visibility through the various ministerial appointments he held, gave him street credibility and acclaim. which propelled his defeat of the potentates, Kenyatta and Odinga. 2022 was not the first time Ruto defeated establishment candidates. For example, in the 1997 Kenyan general election, when he contested the parliamentary seat, he inflicted a surprising defeat on Reuben Chesire, who was backed by President Moi. This feat endeared Ruto to Moi, who appointed him Chief Electoral Officer in the Kenya African National Union (KANU).

From this privileged position, Ruto was able to provide strategic support to Uhuru Kenyatta, who was President Moi's preferred candidate in the 2002 general election. For his support of Kenyatta, Ruto was appointed Deputy Home Minister ( Internal Affairs) and later promoted to cabinet minister, when some ministers resigned to stand for election, in which KANU lost.

In 2005, when Kenyatta was elected president of KANU, Ruto was also elected general secretary. But, in the referendum on the constitutional revision, when KANU opposed this decision, Ruto joined forces with former KANU ministers, who had joined the opposition to fight President Kibaki for not having honored a pre-election memorandum of understanding on power-sharing and establishment. from the Prime Minister's office. Under the collective banner of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which was coined from the orange color of the 'No' vote, Ruto cemented his popular grip on the Rift Valley province, which contributed to the victory of the ODM in the referendum. Nonetheless, his statement challenging the 2007 presidential election presented as if he was pushing his luck too far. Despite condemnation of his aspiration by KANU bigwigs, especially former President Arap Moi, Ruto continued his candidacy for ODM. He was, however, beaten to third place in the straw poll, won by Raila Odinga. As a demonstration of sportsmanship, Ruto congratulated Odinga...