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Ruto’s rise and the making of modern day autocrats
President William Ruto.
What you need to know:
- As treasurer of the infamous Youth for Kanu ‘92, Ruto learned how money, propaganda and power could be weaponised.
- Like Putin, he figured out the double standards of the West: preach democracy, but partner with autocrats when convenient.
While in London a few days ago, I met with the co-founder of a startup unicorn that had raised more than half-a-billion dollars. I was excited, eager to pick his brain on building startups, and share my own ambitions to contribute to the continent’s transformation. But let’s be honest — having just wrapped up my MBA, I’m officially on the job hunt (read broke, ambitious and armed with an elevator pitch). This felt like the perfect opportunity to network with someone who has actually made it.
But the conversation took an unexpected turn. It shifted inevitably to my whistleblowing journey, and dangers I now face returning to Kenya. He asked me what I feared most about this. I said lawlessness. Kenya has reached a point where a member of Parliament, with armed bodyguards, can be gunned down at 7.30pm on a busy road, yet the killers may never be found. If that can happen to someone with State security, what about me — a whistleblower and a “nobody” without protection? That’s the kind of impunity that defines our current reality.
He then asked: “Who controls this rogue system? Is it just the President?” I told him no. Kenya’s descent into impunity is not the work of one man. It’s a complex, symbiotic relationship between political players, billionaire financiers, international enablers and well-connected networks. The President is simply the face of this complex system.
That’s when he mentioned a book he was reading — Autocracy Inc. by Anne Applebaum — and gifted me a copy. Through Applebaum’s analysis of Vladimir Putin’s rise and the evolution of autocracies in the 21st century, Kenya’s current situation suddenly made sense to me.
Art of double-speak
In a 1992 documentary, a young Putin, then deputy mayor of St Petersburg, spoke glowingly about small businesses and foreign investment. Many believed in his vision. Putin’s regime did not stumble into authoritarianism; it was engineered—from his KGB days in Dresden to St Petersburg real estate money-laundering schemes, Putin laid the foundation for a kleptocracy camouflaged as a democracy. As Applebaum writes, it wasn’t just Russian insiders who enabled this rise. Western lawyers, politicians and corporations played key roles in legitimising and profiting from the system.
Putin mastered the art of double-speak inspired by Western politicians. He spoke of free elections and the rule of law, even as he consolidated power and removed real opposition. The illusion of choice persisted, but elections had pre-selected candidates, sanctioned critics, and no true dissent.
Kenya’s William Ruto, too, began early. As treasurer of the infamous Youth for Kanu ‘92 during President Daniel Moi’s regime, Ruto learned how money, propaganda and power could be weaponised. Like Putin, he figured out the double standards of the West: preach democracy, but partner with autocrats when convenient.
During his inauguration in 2022, Ruto promised to disband killer squads and protect civil liberties. But under his watch, especially during the Finance Bill protests, at least 60 people were killed, with more than 80 still missing.
Tyranny and injustice
Ruto stands for nothing. When asked if he leans East or West, he proudly says neither. He cosies up to China for loans. In 2024, he flew to America at President Joe Biden’s invitation on a private jet provided by his Emirati “friends”, and according to his former Attorney-General, Justin Muturi , he phoned him to sign a contract with a Russian Oligarch in an airport lounge in Dubai. He moves where the deals are. That’s the modern autocrat’s playbook: no ideology, just deals and getting rich.
Autocrats support each other across borders. Ruto’s regime has shown this repeatedly. Turkish asylum seekers were arrested and deported from Kenya on request of the Turkish government according to Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei. Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was abducted in Nairobi, only to resurface in a Kampala jail. Tanzanian journalist Maria Tsarungi was abducted in Nairobi by unidentified men interrogating her criticism of President Samia Suluhu and was saved only by public outrage. In Sudan’s war, Ruto allowed the Rapid Support Forces—accused of ethnic cleansing—to announce a parallel government from Nairobi. There have been allegations of gold smuggling and arms deals around this.
Ruto’s rise has also been legitimised by powerful figures in the West. Chief among them was Meg Whitman, the US Ambassador to Kenya until early this year, who became one of his most enthusiastic supporters. Even as his regime gunned down dozens of unarmed youth protesting a punitive Finance Bill 2024—which even the International Monetary Fund had warned would trigger popular resistance—Whitman remained firmly in Ruto’s corner. Her vocal support and diplomatic embrace provided the international validation that helped shield Ruto from global accountability and emboldened his increasingly autocratic rule.
Still, there is hope. The Finance Bill 2024 protests and the public outcry that killed the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport-Adani deal were proof that even in emerging autocracies, people still have power. The experience of tyranny and injustice can always radicalise people. And no amount of propaganda can erase lived truth.
The writer is a management consultant, whistleblower and active citizen