You cannot just show up at someone’s house unannounced, a granddaughter of retired President Daniel Moi has hit back at DP William Ruto.
Ruto flew to Moi’s home in Kabarak on Thursday but failed to meet him after waiting for three hours.
It is not clear if Ruto had an appointment but sources close to the Moi family say there was none.
“There was a protocol fail on the DP’s side, you cannot just show up… without prior arrangements. Least forgetting that Moi is still a well-respected statesman,” Laila Denise Ibrahim said via Facebook on Friday
Quoting a sentence from a philosopher Machiavelli, Laila said Ruto needs to understand that nothing is so self-defeating as generosity.
“DP you need to understand just as Machiavelli wrote in his book; “…a prince should guard himself, above all things, against being despised and hated; and generosity leads you to both. It is wiser to have a reputation as a miser, which brings disdain without hatred, than by seeking a reputation for generosity to incur a name for rapacity which begets both disdain and hatred.”
Laila asked Ruto to call a truce between him and her uncle Baringo Senator Gideon Moi.
“Seek out a different strategy and approach and get rid of sycophancy and people who are capitalising on your rivalry…” she said.
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
The rivalry between Ruto and the Mois intensified in 2006 when Ruto backed ODM leader Raila Odinga for President and Moi supported his former deputy Mwai Kibaki for the 2007 polls.
Ruto’s rivalry shifted to Moi’s son Gideon and it intensified in the last election when Ruto exchanged bitter words with Gideon as he campaigned for Jubilee candidates in Baringo.
Ruto fielded Water CS Simon Chelugui against Gideon. When Gideon retained his seat, Ruto pushed successfully for Chelugui’s appointment to the Cabinet.
On April 14, Raila visited Moi in Kabarak and was warmly welcomed, photos were taken and Gideon was present.
That friendly meeting was interpreted as an endorsement of the former PM’s role in the famous handshake, at the very least.
A meeting with Moi, to wish him good health, could give a boost to Ruto’s presidential aspirations and his claim to lead the Kalenjin nation.
Moi’s spokesman Lee Njiru confirmed that Ruto visited but did not see Moi because the 94-year-old former President was with his doctors.
