By Jerome Ogola
BIG OFFICE, NO POWER
This is today’s standard newspaper’s headline. Of course the man in reference here is Dr Ruto the DP
The roles of the DP, just like the DG (deputy governor), as defined by the constitution, is to sit around and wait for the president/governor to die
In an event the president refuses to die, then the deputy’s role and therefore his power and influence, largely depend on the moods of his boss
He can be as powerful and as influential as the president/governor or he can be a paper deputy with zero power and/influence, making CSs/CECs more influential than him
In their first term Ruto had real power and real influence. He talked with authority. In some cases he appeared to be more in charge than Uhuru, but today, he appears, hapless, helpless and hopeless
He was isolated long ago even before the isolation facility in Mbagathi was completed. Of course in the first Uhuru hid his fangs so that Ruto could deliver votes for the second term
Although this situation is brought about by his thawing relations with his boss, actually the real culprit to blame, isn’t Uhuru but the constitution, for creating such a high profile office, yet so amorphous, without any defined role
This tradition was carried from the now defunct position of vice presidency. Jaramogi was minister for Home Affairs and so were some other VPs, as the ministerial position was meant to keep then busy, as vice presidency on itself was a nothing
They also had their parliamentary roles to keep them busy, an additional responsibility denied to the current DP
Given that the serving duo will most likely be at loggerheads, it is hardly possible that any DP, will enjoy the trappings of power, that comes with the office, unless that presidential candidate has the wisdom of settling on a 130 year old for a DP, as Kibaki chose Moody Awuori his VP
At that age, no man can be any ambitious. This means they can work in harmony, because it is ambition which makes the deputy restless and this makes his boss very suspicious
It is hardly possible that anyone relates well with someone salivating for their seats, whether the incumbent is eligible , constitutionally, to defend the seat or not
In other news, coronavirus has aroused our manufacturing capabilities. It has been with us for a month now and we are already manufacturing sophisticated medical equipment like ventilators, the same that we never thought we could make, on our own
We have also just discovered that we can make face maks, items we hitherto imported. In fact we are manufacturing them even in the streets
Going by the same sequence, if this thing remains with us for the next few months, we may manufacture aeroplanes, automobiles, mobile phones and other sophisticated communications gadgets
The pandemic is forcing us get industrialised, after our own set ultimatums, like MDG, vision 2030 and Uhuru’s big four, successfully failed to achieve the same
Ama namna gani wangwana?
