Raila-Ruto bromance: The 'selfish union' that pushed opposition into irrelevance

The move by President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to save Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja once again exposed the shrinking space for dissent in Kenya.

Almost by decree, the leading politicos decide a course of action, imposing their resolution on their allies. This situation favours Dr Ruto, who could do with some peace and quiet as he steers his government.

In Raila, the Head of State has earned a defender who vouches for the Kenya Kwanza administration’s policies, some controversial. Ruto also has the silence of a man whose noise on State misdoings has been too loud to ignore by previous administrations.

Since the pair partnered in July 2024, in the wake of the youth-led protests over proposed tax hikes, Ruto has faced virtually no resistance from the former premier, conditions previously enjoyed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta after his handshake with Raila in March 2018.

Although not mandated by any law to provide any checks, the former prime minister did this job with gusto during Uhuru’s first term in office and in Ruto’s early days as president. Indeed, he faulted the former president over a controversial 2014 $2 billion Eurobond.

He was equally critical in pressuring the government into action over a multi-million-shilling corruption scandal involving the National Youth Service, as he was about a Sh6.8 billion water supply plan to residents of Nairobi that involved the construction of the northern collector tunnel.

Occasionally, Raila voices concern about apparent policies that the public opposes. However, he keeps silent as other ills unfold.

Many of Raila’s allies in Parliament, whose job is providing oversight, have taken the cue, and they hear and see no evil. Those keeping the government in check are seen as rebellious, with the loyal ones ‘rewarded’ with leadership positions in parliamentary committees. The current Parliament has been criticised as an appendage of the Executive for always agreeing with the Head of State’s wishes. That has been more intense with Ruto’s and Raila’s truce.

The pair are in a strange marriage that brings together the government and opposition, but which allows Raila’s Orange Democratic Movement to retain minority seats, ordinarily reserved for the opposition. Theirs is a coalition that is not really a coalition, which has succeeded in taming dissent.

“Blurring the lines of the opposition in unofficial ways is very dangerous for our democracy,” said Gitile Naituli, a professor of leadership and management. “By joining Ruto, Raila compromised oversight and damaged Kenya, which he has always done when he crossed over into the government and abandoned his oversight role.”

In October last year, Raila endorsed a controversial plan to lease the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Indian conglomerate Adani Group. When he did so, a significant portion of the public was against the deal that would have surrendered the operations of Kenya’s main airport to Adani for 30 years.

News of the Adani lease sparked protests online, with citizens threatening to storm the airport. Airport workers staged a strike in September last year over the leasing that threatened to take away their jobs.

Adani deal

Ruto would drop the deal last November following the indictment of Adani’s founder in the United States. Its cancellation has not stopped Raila from defending the contract, whose collapse he termed a “great disappointment” in June.

There is also the Social Health Insurance Fund, which was aimed at enhancing affordable access to healthcare and hailed as a solution to the perennial issues that included fraudulent insurance claims.

Hardly a year since it was rolled out, the new public-funded insurance scheme has been dogged by scandals, and criticised by some stakeholders as “not working” and unsustainable.

Last week, the Standard reported about fears that some Sh24 billion could have been lost following the collapse of the Social Health Authority’s pricey digital claims verification systems.

SHA is clouded with the scandals that weighed down its predecessor, the National Health Insurance Fund. Many patients testify that SHA has been hell for them, with some, like sickle cell patients, lamenting the costly treatment.

Raila has previously pointed out the gaps in SHA, highlighting the ordeals reported by patients as they struggle to access care. However, he has mostly been supportive of the scheme, which, in February, he termed “a game changer if implemented well.”

Throughout this week, Kenya has been gripped by the shocking presence of Jubbaland forces in the country, who roam freely in Mandera County. The silence has been loudest from the broad-based government.

Raila has previously explained silence on his part to mean he is pushing for action through close ties with the Executive. Indeed, he enjoys the president’s ear and arguably has some say in pushing for such change.

“He can indeed lobby for change from the inside, like he possibly did to have the committee for compensating victims of police brutality set up,” said Ian Horsefield, a lawyer and political commentator. “But that is not what Kenyans signed up for. The two have killed the opposition and reduced MPs to their tools.”

Horsefield pointed out the recent lashing Ruto and Raila gave lawmakers, arguing that Kenyans can’t count on MPs as a true watchdog for them.

Prof Naituli concurred, saying democracy demands that the “opposition is distinct from the government.”

Ruto has attracted scrutiny over his alleged dalliance with Sudan’s paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, currently at war with the main army, as well as the construction of a luxury resort within Ngong Forest.

These controversies, as well as the privatisation of the Kenya Pipeline Company, have largely gone unchallenged, courtesy of a firm hold of power the president now enjoys.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with the state of Kenya under the existing regime. Scandal after scandal and attempts to sell off Kenya’s crucial infrastructure on the cheap are the modus operandi of this disgraced regime,” former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said on Tuesday.