No commentary from me. I’m posting verbatim segments of the piece.
Class, power, and resentment: unpacking elite panic and hostility towards Ruto
In the current commentary surrounding President William Ruto’s Administration, a persistent theme has emerged among certain Kenyan elites: a visceral disdain that feels more personal than political.
…Within these classes, exemplified by an elite concentrated in one region that had governed Kenya over the past two decades, it was quite discernible that the opposition was to his presidency, and it was disguised in the language of governance…
… It is no wonder that the region which had held the presidency for a collective 34 years had the highest number of millionaires in the country and Ruto’s ascendency became a mirror reflecting these societal inequities…
…His (Raila) cultural identity, mannerisms, and even his progressive ideas were portrayed as “un-capitalistic” or threatening to a supposed national ethos that was, in fact, a façade for a narrow ethnic-class hegemony…
…Under President Kibaki, the promise of a new, inclusive Kenya was quickly sacrificed at the altar of ethnic patronage. His inner circle unapologetically framed his leadership as a restoration, the return of Kenya to “order,” a euphemism for regional political and economic dominance…
https://www.the-star.co.ke/opinion/star-blogs/2025-06-02-class-power-and-resentment-unpacking-elite-panic-and-hostility-towards-ruto