He may be down after having suffered a stinging defeat in the Bomet gubernatorial election 2017 in the hands of the late Joyce Laboso, but he is definitely not out yet.
Isaac Rutto, the Chama Cha Mashinani leader is mostly remembered for his fierce independent streak when he was the Bomet governor especially after his falling out with Deputy President (DP) William Ruto.
As the Council of Governors Chairman, Rutto’s push for a referendum to increase allocation to counties led to ugly public spats.
Angered by Rutto’s insistence on a referendum to increase funds given to counties, National Assembly’s Majority Leader Aden Duale lost his temper and insulted the Bomet governor in public.
Rutto’s woes did not end there, he lost the Bomet gubernatorial seat to the late Joyce Laboso in the 2017 General Election after pledging his allegiance to the National Super Alliance.
Despite losing his seat, Rutto has not shield away from public debates and recently said that he led delegations to Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga and Kanu chairman Gideon Moi in bid to stop eviction of Maasai Mau settlers.
Rutto, who was speaking in August, 2019 during an interview with Citizen TV, said he supports some aspects of the Punguza Mizigo referendum.
During an earlier interview on Point Blank, Rutto said he prefers to have Cabinet members picked from among Members of Parliament, a proposal backed by CoG in their Ugatuzi initiative.
“We were not able to pass the Budget in the last one year…The MCA’s wanted Sh700 million to be allocated to themselves because they wanted to buy land to build the Speaker a house,” said Rutto as he claimed ward representatives are prone to being used by politicians out to frustrate governors.
Rutto, who is set to trade blows with Anne Kiguta on Punchline on Sunday at 9.30 pm, still has a chance to run for governor in 2022.
As a prominent politician from the Rift Valley region, his stance on the Mau evictions and the President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila handshake as well as the current constitutional change debate is likely to impact on his electability in 2022.
