Gitile Naituli
I have been following the development at State House closely, and it now appears that President William Ruto has bought off Gideon Moi.
Some Kenyans are angry.
Some are sad. Others are quietly confused.
But before emotions take over, we must reason together.
The truth is this: the people of Baringo, and by extension Kenya, still hold the power to shock Ruto.
They can choose a leader who fixes problems, not one who serves a dynasty or a party.
Even an independent candidate with no godfather can lead, provided the vision is clear.
That is why we must not be trapped into believing Gideon Moi was the only option.
He wasn’t. He isn’t. And he never will be.
Why Mourn Gideon Moi? Let us be honest with ourselves.
Why are some Kenyans mourning Gideon Moi’s political capitulation?
Have we already forgotten the long shadow cast by his father’s regime?
Under Daniel arap Moi’s 24-year rule, Kenya bled. Citizens were tortured in Nyayo House cells.
Newspapers were banned. Universities were raided.
Ethnic patronage and state capture hollowed out our institutions.
Families were forced into exile, activists disappeared, and corruption became entrenched as the norm.
For two decades and more, Kenyans prayed, organized, and struggled for change against a suffocating state machine.
Is this the history we want to recycle by glorifying the son?
Are we so forgetful that we mistake nostalgia for vision?
A snake doesn’t change because it sheds its skin.
Weak leaders remain weak, even when they dress in new colours.
Gideon Moi never stood with the people when it mattered.
He was not part of the United Opposition that resisted Ruto’s overreach.
He did not offer a clear alternative vision for Kenya’s future.
He stayed on the sidelines, calculating, hesitant, and mediocre in his politics.
His role has always been that of a dynastic heir, not a reformist leader. So why mourn his sale to State House as if Kenya has lost a liberator?
Ruto bought silence, not strength. Let us also be clear about what Ruto has gained.
Buying Gideon Moi does not make Ruto stronger. It only buys him silence. Gideon had no mass following to deliver.
He was never a kingmaker. His politics was confined largely to Baringo and a nostalgic circle of KANU die-hards.
By bringing him into the fold, Ruto has not expanded his political base in any meaningful way.
Instead, he has acquired a dynastic trophy to display on his shelf. But trophies don’t vote. They don’t mobilize.
They don’t inspire the next generation. Power that is borrowed never lasts, and silence that is purchased soon grows costly.
Ruto’s move shows not strength but insecurity.
A president confident in his agenda does not waste time buying off mediocre opponents. He earns trust through performance.
Yet, as Proverbs 29:12 reminds us: “If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked.” That is precisely what we are witnessing.
A government that buys loyalty instead of earning trust, surrounding itself with sycophants instead of servants.
The people of Baringo must remember that their power is not tied to Gideon Moi’s choices.
They hold the ballot, and the ballot is mightier than dynastic deals.
Do not vote out of anger or revenge. Vote for solutions. Vote for leaders who understand the needs of the herder, the farmer, the youth searching for jobs, and the mother seeking medicine for her child.
Vote for those who can fix insecurity, expand education, and open economic opportunities. The next generation deserves leaders with vision, not dynasties chasing survival.
Even an independent candidate. untainted by party politics can rise to lead if the vision is clear and the people are ready.
Baringo can shock Ruto not by following Gideon Moi but by charting its own bold course.
The larger lesson for all of Kenya is this: let us stop overhyping political dynasties. Gideon Moi was never indispensable.
He was not even central to the opposition’s united efforts. His politics has always been transactional, not transformational.
When two lions fight, it is the grass that suffers. In Kenya, the grass has always been the people.
Every time dynasties and incumbents strike deals, it is the ordinary mwananchi who pays the price through higher taxes, neglected services, and stalled reforms.
We must stop measuring our future by the moves of dynastic pawns. Kenya’s hope lies not in recycled names but in fresh vision.
It lies in leaders who can stand tall without being bought, leaders who know that true power is not in silencing rivals but in empowering citizens.
Let us not mourn Gideon Moi’s sale to State House. Let us learn from it.
Mediocrity can not save a nation, and dynasties can not deliver democracy. Ruto may have bought silence, but he has not bought the people.
The power to decide Kenya’s future does not sit in State House. It sits in every village, town, and constituency.
It sits in Baringo, in Kitui, in Kakamega, in Nyeri. It sits in the hands of the voter.
When the time comes, let us vote not for names, not for dynasties, not for revenge, but for solutions and vision.
Because the real lions are not in State House or in dynastic mansions.
The real lions are the people. And the grass will only stop suffering when the people themselves roar.
About the Author
