Gloria Orwoba reveals how a show brewed ties with Ruto
Gloria Orwoba has opened up on her unlikely journey from a TV show host to the corridors of power, recounting how President William Ruto noticed her bold journalism and handpicked her for nomination to the Senate.
Speaking on a local YouTuber’s channel on Tuesday, the embattled former nominated senator narrated how her political career took shape in unexpected ways.
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“I was recruited from TV. This part of the story I was told by people. I remember being picked up from Tamarind Hotel,” Orwoba said, recalling the very first encounter that led her closer to Ruto’s inner circle.
She explained that her link to Ruto came through Oliver Karuri, now a legal advisor at State House.
“A gentleman called me, he is called Oliver Karuri, he sits in State House. Those days I used to wake up navaa nguo ni kama naenda kumeet president everyday. Even if I was taking clothes to the laundry. If I have a show, I will do it and go to Java and just sit and read a newspaper,” she recalled.
According to Orwoba, one of her shows caught national attention and shifted her life completely. The show focused on a scandal at the Deputy President’s office involving a slain security guard and a high-profile con scheme linked to former Sports CS Rashid Echesa, where foreign nationals, mostly whites, were duped in a fake arms tender.
“Every media house was reporting how white people had been conned, and everyone was just taking the white’s side and empathising with them. From my perspective, I didn’t understand what the big deal was, and I remember on my show, I asked if the deal is because they have been conned or because they are white. I asked what no one else dared ask: ‘Did they have work permits, were they in the country legally?’” Orwoba said.
Her sharp commentary soon caught the attention of the then DP, who, according to Orwoba, was impressed by her substance and the fact that she was not focused on smear campaigns.
Destiny shaped
Although she was not directly aware of his interest at first, she later learned that Ruto had instructed his team to reach out to her. However, there were internal delays, with some claiming they were unable to trace her.
“All media houses followed my angle, and my sister called and told me that now I was shaping the narrative. I continued doing shows for like three weeks. I am being told, the Deputy President, now the President, saw it and was impressed, and he said, ‘Now see, someone who is not all about smear campaigns.’ So he started taking note of my shows. Then he asked his people to look for me. This, I’m told, I cannot verify,” she said.
The delay came to an end when she appeared on another show where she discussed the Hustler Nation narrative without prior briefing. This, she said, reignited Ruto’s curiosity and led him to demand why his team had not yet contacted her. Shortly afterwards, she received a call from Oliver Karuri, who initiated the process of linking her directly to Ruto.
“Of course, some tried to lie to him that they could not find me. Then, sometime later, I did a show where I was talking about the hustler nation without being briefed that I was talking about it, and the DP asked why they had not found me yet. That is when Oliver Karuri called and asked where I was,” she narrated.
Their first meeting was set at Tamarind, a popular restaurant, though it quickly moved to Ruto’s residence. Orwoba recalled that Karuri had initially asked her to join him in his car, but she declined, opting to follow in her own vehicle. It was at the Deputy President’s residence that her formal recruitment began.
She described the moment she first met Ruto as overwhelming, admitting that she was ecstatic to the point where nothing could dampen her excitement. For Orwoba, it was the realization of a long-held dream, one she had often shared with a friend whose parent was a politician. That meeting, she emphasised, was the definitive step that ushered her into the political world.
“He said we would meet at Tamarind. I went there. He told me he was in a hurry and asked me to get in his car, but I told him no, I will follow. He was surprised I had a car. So I followed him, that’s how I got to the DP’s residence,” she revealed.
“If you see the first photo I took with Ruto, wueh! I was over the moon and there’s nothing you could tell me at the time. That’s how I was recruited. You know I was excited because I was friends with a politician’s kid and I always told her how I wanted to join politics,” she added.
