Deputy President William Ruto’s allies have devised a dual strategy to counter President Uhuru Kenyatta’s anti-corruption efforts, according to reports. The plan involves leveraging alleged decades-old scandals involving the Kenyatta and Moi families to shield Ruto from graft investigations, while simultaneously threatening suppliers linked to Ruto’s projects with violence.
Key construction material providers who recently cooperated with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have reportedly received death threats from individuals tied to Ruto’s office. These suppliers were allegedly warned against connecting Ruto to diverted resources in the Kerio Valley dam scandal, as per sources. Meanwhile, Ruto’s allies in the Rift Valley have pledged to politically undermine Kenyatta by linking his family to historical misappropriation of public funds.
The strategy, reportedly coordinated by Ruto himself, aims to derail ongoing corruption probes against him and his associates. A multi-agency investigation into a multi-billion-shilling scandal involving Ruto and cabinet officials receiving kickbacks for hydro-power dam contracts in the Rift Valley has intensified pressure on his camp. This has reportedly accelerated efforts to expose the Kenyatta and Moi families’ alleged long-term corruption.
Investigators have targeted Ruto’s close associate Dr. David Muge, whose passport was confiscated by the DCI. A team of lawyers and forensic experts has been assembled to compile evidence of corruption spanning from the 1960s to the present, focusing on the Kenyan first families. This approach mirrors tactics used when Kenyatta’s 2018 lifestyle audit faced resistance from Ruto-aligned figures, including Oscar Sudi, who demanded the audit be retroactive to Kenya’s independence.
