Musalia Mudavadi emerges Ruto’s most trusted ally ahead of 2027 polls

Eyebrows are once again being raised on Kenya’s political landscape regarding the steady central positioning of Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi in President William Ruto’s administration.

For times without number, an array of senior operatives in the Kenya Kwanza administration have not hidden their feeling that Ruto has a soft spot for Mudavadi with whom he noticeably has a more-than-warm relationship.

As if in concurrence, top Opposition politicians from the Mt Kenya region are reported to have enlisted the services loudmouthed lawmakers and county leaders from the former Western Province to persistently malign and hurl demeaning verbal brickbats at the persons of Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, an assignment the recruits are evidently executing with unlimited gusto.

In between the two sides, what has since emerged is that Mudavadi who is also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs is apparently the cog in the wheel of Ruto’s government in the countdown to the 2027 General-Election.

Sixty-three-year-old Mudavadi is the longest serving and most reliable Minister in Ruto’s three-year regime.

Viewed as the most loyal of the President’s lieutenants, Mudavadi is the most travelled member of President Ruto’s Cabinet. Rightfully so by dint of his challenging diplomacy docket.

As Prime Cabinet Secretary, Mudavadi is the third highest ranking member in the Executive after the President and Deputy President.

Both Ruto and Mudavadi returned on Thursday, November 6 from Doha, Qatar, where they had travelled to only hours after completion of the Head of State’s four-day visit to Mudavadi’s political backyard of Western Kenya where he launched and inspected infrastructure development projects in Kakamega, Busia and Vihiga counties.

Last week, Ruto hinted at Mudavadi’s influence while responding to a request from a local legislator that he considers appointing someone from Vihiga county into the Cabinet.

Stated Ruto: “Kuna Mheshimiwa pale ambaye ameniuliza eti nichague waziri kutoka hapa Vihiga. Kwani nyingi hamjui huyu Musalia Mudavadi ni nani? Huyu ndiye Mkuu wa mawaziri wote hapa Kenya. Kwani nyinyi hamna hiyo habari? Changamkeni bwana.

(An MP has asked me to appoint a Cabinet Secretary from here in Vihiga? Where does this Musalia Mudavadi come from? Do you mean to say you do not know who he is and influence he holds in Government? This is the head of all ministers in the Republic of Kenya. Wake up to that reality.”

Before Ruto took to the stage, the secretary-general of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Francis Atwoli had told the gathering to take Mudavadi seriously and back him to succeed the President as he is the most qualified in the pack.

“Musalia Mudavadi is very loyal. He is the head of all cabinet ministers. He has five ministries and five Principal Secretaries under his docket. He has been a Vice-President and he has also been a Deputy Prime Minister. What else are we looking for? Be prepared to take the country’s leadership after Ruto’s tenure comes to an end in 2032,” said Atwoli.

Ruto’s personal assistant Farouk Kibet has been more direct on the matter, stating that the Mulembe community stands to lose the most if its members desert the Kenya Kwanza formation.

During his by-election forays in Malava constituency where he has literally camped as he campaigns for the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate David Ndakwa ahead of the November 27 poll, Farouk has time and again intimated that it would be in the interest of the community the Head of State hails from if he were to hand over the mantle to someone from the Western region, with Mudavadi being the most obvious choice.

In the Cabinet, Mudavadi is tasked with crucial tasks that place him at the fulcrum of Ruto’s regime where he assists the President and Deputy President in the co-ordination and supervision of government ministries and State departments.

Through his position Mudavadi acts as the centre and linkage between the Executive and the Legislature to ensure that government policies are realised wholesome.

Mudavadi has previously served as Vice-President, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance, Minister for Information, Transport and Communication, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Supplies and Marketing.

It was during his stint at the Exchequer that he initiated the Kenya Revenue Authority while his stint at the Transport docket was marked by the liberalisation of the communications sector, a move that led to the emergence of the numerous radio and TV stations and the split of the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC), a bold go at privatisation that opened doors for the birth and growth of entities like Telkom, Safaricom, Airtel among others.

In 2022, Mudavadi dropped his presidential quest in favour of Ruto. Their ticket won and was named Prime Cabinet Secretary. In his native Western backyard, Mudavadi popped up as the undisputed political supremo.

In the Kenya Kwanza Alliance pact signed between Ruto’s UDA, Mudavadi’s ANC and Wetangula’s Ford Kenya, the Western Kenya region was promised to benefit immensely through new development projects, among them the construction of new 1,000 kilometres of bitumen roads and the completion of the already started bitumen roads in the region and the revival of key economic sector industries among them Mumias and Nzoia sugar companies.

That agreement has become a point of persistent references by the electorate and Opposition cadres in the Mulembe Nation.

It is a deal that Mudavadi and Wetangula will have to revisit time and again as they campaign for Ruto’s re-election in 2027.