Indeed, this is a philosophy the leader of the ruling Jubilee Party seems to have embraced over the time; one that seriously wrong-footed his political lieutenants, including Deputy President William Ruto.

The utter shock exhibited by politicians allied to the DP partly stems from the fact that they had underestimated the political astuteness of the president and his ability to exact revenge, as well as the notion that he was a laid-back leader engrossed more in the good things of life than rolling up his sleeves to fight back and play dirty.

Judging the president’s character based on idiosyncratic variables, which portray him as a cunningly weak leader, a conflict resolution and peace-building expert observes that Mr Kenyatta pretends to be weak and plays along when his deputy seemingly outsmarts him on a public podium.

Describing Ruto as a “strong character” and Kenyatta as “cunningly weak”, Dr Katete, who teaches at the University of Nairobi, explains that the Kenyatta-Ruto political partnership enjoyed chemistry because of their differences in character – “meaning both were dependent on each other, with the president seeking to use Ruto’s strong character to deal with a stubborn opposition and the DP hoping to capitalise on Kenyatta’s apparent weak character to secure his own political future”.

Nyeri Town MP Wambugu Ngunjiri attributes the cracks within Jubilee to the belief among the DP’s supporters that the president lacked the political capacity to counter the onslaught against him.

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