Same script, different cast: Ruto, Gachagua play 'good cop, bad cop'

Going by their seemingly conflicting pronouncements and actions lately, could President William Ruto and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, be playing ‘good cop, bad cop’?

While, for instance, the President has stressed the importance of national cohesion and assured Kenyans that his government will work for them all no matter whom they voted for last, his principal assistant has wasted no opportunity to publicly push the case for those who supported Kenya Kwanza to access the national cake. 

But it is his latest pronouncement, equating government to a private company with shares, that has triggered an emotional national discourse. Speaking last Sunday in Kericho County, the country’s second-in-command suggested that those with “majority shares” will get priority in accessing government jobs and contracts, while those with “fewer shares” or “none” will wait in the queue for their turn. 

That the President could be speaking through his deputy is high possible, persuaded by the fact that Ruto has not publicly reprimanded Gachagua for his latest outburst. And even if he has done so privately, it is curious that the DP keeps repeating the same “mistake”. 

Yet still, sentiments by senior government officials in Ruto’s administration, including Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and his Interior counterpart, Prof Kithure Kindiki, to the effect that they will only attend to the needs of governors who supported Ruto’s presidential bid or who keep away from the ongoing public rallies organised by opposition leader Raila Odinga, buttress Gachagua’s viewpoint. 

The sentiments, also expressed by Senate Minority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, make it appear that Ruto and Gachagua could be reading from the same script.   

Win the trust of unsuspecting opponent

A well-known technique in law enforcement and in negotiations within diplomatic circles, the ‘good cop, bad cop’ tactic aims to win the trust of the unsuspecting opponent and in the process milk concessions. 

Renowned American organisational psychologist Prof Bob Sutton posits that the reason why encountering both a nice and a nasty person is more effective than dealing with either of them is because of the “psychological contrast effect”.  

“In essence, the impact is to make the ‘carrots’ offered by the good cop seem even sweeter and the ‘sticks’ offered by the bad cop even harsher,” says Sutton. 

The portrayal of Ruto as the good cop and Gachagua as the bad cop is deliberate and understandable. Alive to the fact that as President he is a symbol of national unity, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party leader has elected to stay in the background and speak less but act firmly as intended. Instead, the DP is the one openly verbalising the President’s plot.   

The DP, opines Dr Henry Wabwire, is happy about the current arrangement for two main reasons – that it endears him to Ruto’s populous Kalenjin community, whose goodwill he requires to succeed his boss, and that it places him at a vantage point to build his political base in his Mt Kenya backyard.  

The arrangement also enables Gachagua to shield the President from unwarranted political confrontation. Even as Ruto embraces the opposition, for instance, Gachagua last Sunday declared himself the State House nyapara (foreman), who will ensure that those who voted for Kenya Kwanza are at the front of the queue of those seeking favours from the President. 

The only “little concern”, perhaps, is that the DP is so brazen in his fight-back and vicious in his attacks on former President Kenyatta to the extent of being viewed – rightly or wrongly – as attempting to revive and entrench the one-party dictatorial regime. 

The talk of granting favours to certain communities in service delivery and job opportunities has not only irked the Azimio leadership, with Raila protesting at what he considers “balkanising of the country along tribal lines”, but also caught the attention of second-liberation lobbyists, former Chief Justice Dr Willy Mutunga and clergyman Rev Dr Timothy Njoya.

Mutunga is now warning of a revolution, while Njoya warns that the DP will quickly bring down the Ruto’s administration. But according to National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei, Gachagua is only affirming a “simple fact”: that loyalty should be rewarded. 

Indeed, a quick look at Ruto’s Cabinet and other senior appointments to government confirm this fact – that the DP speaks to the heart of his boss.  Article 27 of the Constitution requires of the appointing authority to ensure that appointments to government and public institutions are executed in an open, transparent and an-all inclusive manner, taking into consideration regional and disability factors. 

Protests over violation of this provision of the Constitution and alleged witch-hunt by the Ruto administration have been on for some time now. Upon taking oath of office on September 13 last year, Gachagua, in a rather bizarre and embarrassing display of rage, launched a scathing attack on Former President Uhuru Kenyatta, right in front of invited dignitaries who included African heads of state, for “crippling the country’s economy” and for allegedly presiding over a dictatorial regime that targeted politicians allied to his then DP, Ruto. 

Only two months ago, Gachagua was on the receiving end for bullying Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja, whom he accused of harassing businesspeople from the Mt Kenya region following the governor’s directive to keep public transport vehicles out of the city centre.  

Embattled Jubilee Secretary-General, Jeremiah Kioni, last month declared that the DP was loose-tongued and suggested that the President was (mis)using the Gachagua to “hit out at others”. According to the former Ndaragua MP, Ruto has deployed the services of his deputy to address delicate issues touching on the Mt Kenya region, including the coffee, tea and milk sectors. 

Kioni is among the set of politicians in the region who believe the role given to the DP is a set-up because the issues at hand are fairly explosive and potent with political repercussions. But Ruto has refuted claims that he has given his deputy rope to hang himself politically. 

And at every opportunity, the DP has warned – probably to the chagrin of his boss – that those who “masterminded state capture” under Kenyatta’s tenure will soon “face the music”. The Deputy President’s stand contradicts that of  Ruto’s. 

“I am acutely aware that our country is at a stage where we need all hands on deck. We do not have the luxury of looking back. We do not have the luxury to point fingers. We have to work together for a prosperous Kenya,” he said last August upon being declared the winner of the presidential contest. 

Never mind, though, that the President’s actions today do not reflect these and a host of other promises he made. Noting, for instance, that the President has been holding closed door meetings with legislators allied to the Azimio la Umoja rival camp, Kioni accuses Ruto of being on a mission to destabilise the opposition.    

The Jubilee party politician points to the replacements and alleged sacking of individuals appointed by Kenyatta to government positions, including parastatal bodies, and the push for the Kenyatta family to pay taxes as “glaring” instances of political revenge. He lists revocation of a host of government policies and halting of several projects, including roads, initiated by the former President, as part of the revenge mission.   

Whether playing ‘good cop, bad cop’ works for or boomerangs against the UDA remains to be seen.