With less than 8 months before Kenyans go to the ballot to choose the next administration, Presidential front runners DP William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga are yet to choose their running mates.
As easy as it may look to declare oneself a candidate in a presidential election driven by a “game of numbers,” Deputy President William Ruto may be stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to choosing his running mate in for the August 9 elections.
If Ruto chooses a candidate from Mt. Kenya, he will have a 50/50 chance of winning because tribal politics will once again take center stage, which would explain why Kenya has been dominated by only two tribes (Kikuyus& Kalenjins) since independence, despite the fact that we have over 40 communities.
While speaking in early 2021 during the funeral of Mama Hannah, the mother of ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that the time had come for Kenya to establish a rotational presidency, in which different communities are permitted to control the country.
Even when such politics play out, some argue that the question should not be about whatever community you are from, but rather what is your agenda? How are you going to raise Kenyans’ living standards? And there’s a lot more.
Some Mt. Kenya region politicians have insisted that DP Ruto pick one of their own as his running mate in order to gain their full support. It will be interesting to see how this political situation develops.
Option two is let’s suppose DP Ruto picks a candidate outside Mt. Kenya. Will that person garner a lot of votes for him to ensure that he wins the Presidential election? Remember Mt. Kenya is a vote-rich region and whoever will be contesting in a presidential election and he or she has pocketed the Mt. Kenya region, then they are most likely to be guaranteed a win.
