Dear supporter, think twice lest you vote for leaders who do not match up to their political ideologies

By OLIVIA CHEBET

The recent revelation of Deputy President William Ruto’s assets has brought to the fore a harsh reality on Kenyans on why it is imperative that they should understand their leaders better and whether they actually match up to the ideologies that they often preach on. It is a political reality on the many hustler supporters who were duped to believe that the second in command understands their needs and interests and is ready to bring change and yet there is a rarity of philanthropic efforts that have brought effective change in the society. It is a reality that as Kenyans we must be wise in our choice of leaders which involves having a keen understanding on the kind of lifestyles they live. This is every reason why leaders right from former President Mwai Kibaki and President Uhuru Kenyatta had in occasions insisted on a lifestyle audit of public officers which is able to determine if leaders are ethical when it comes to accountability and transparency on public resources and further embed these virtues including integrity in the system of governance.

To better understand Dr Ruto’s expansive and flashy lifestyle with only a focus of the size of land, 18500 acres is an equivalent of 74.867 square kilometres and is larger than the first four smallest countries of the world combined, beginning with the Vatican City which is the smallest. Located in Italy, Rome, with a landmass coverage of 0.49 square kilometres and is like a speck of land that Ruto owns in Kenya. Alongside the Vatican City is Monaco which is relative relatively larger with a coverage of 2.02 square kilometres. These countries combined cannot match up to what Ruto’s land in Kenya covers in terms of size. Larger than little known countries including Nauru and Tuvalu, Ruto’s largesse in land ownership falls between San Marino and Liechtenstein if displayed as a country of its own or even an island. These countries appear as among the top six of smallest countries of the world at 61 and 160 square kilometres. 

These countries support populations upon populations providing shelters and source of livelihoods for many yet in our own country one man own 18500 acres and appears to run an economy of his own. Interestingly, with such a wealth of resources, Ruto can bravely stand on a podium and declare he will issue wheelbarrows to hustlers with a target of improving their livelihoods and further give out handouts yet he is fully aware of how to create financial independence on his part with numerous businesses and investments which to him is relatively small and further informing Kenyans that Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i forgot to mention his 400,000 Safaricom and 80,000  in Kenya Airways alongside his 200,000 chickens with a production of 150,000 eggs that earns him Sh1.5 million on a daily basis. And remember this is just a fraction of what he owns in Kenya.

Even as Ruto and his team terms this as a political war, there is a hustler supporter who is questioning why he had seen the DP as his saving grace understanding his needs and the troubles, he faces in getting a tangible source of income. For him, if he can only get 5 chicken to start a business in poultry this would go a long way in changing his life. To another even half of Ruto’s shares would be enough capital to start his or her desired business. Interestingly Ruto has never even invited any Internally Displaced Persons to temporarily reside on any part of his land to have a head start in improving their lives despite being in sections of the Rift Valley

On a different frontier Ruto’s expansive 18500 acres can be compared to ownership of the Minor Outlying Islands of the United States for the Kenyan the diaspora to better understand the lifestyle of a Ruto leadership he or she supports. These groups consist of the insular areas of the United States consisting of eight United States insular areas in the Pacific Ocean and one in the Caribbean Sea with all covering forty-one square kilometres and for Ruto it would amount to almost a double of the islands’ coverage. Basically, Ruto’s hustler narrative on his supporters is a gimmick to set his foot on the presidency that was tagged on a sympathetic road through his political ideology of supporting the poor and impoverished as he now fights to redefine the meaning of a hustler.

Now to his supporters does the unprecedented lifestyle audit depict an individual intentional on bringing positive change to their own livelihoods. Does the issue of wheelbarrows add up with the nature of the DP as an individual? There is indeed a lot to be desired but what stands out is that there is a broad disconnect that needs to be well understood by his supporters to make better decisions on voting in the 2022 General Election.