Written by Henry Kimoli
In 2005, President Mwai Kibaki lost his banana referendum to Orange.
Orange was being hawked by Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka after they fell out with Kibaki. They were joined by then Eldoret North KANU MP William Ruto and then Gatundu South MP Uhuru Kenyatta.
Their main campaign tool was that the Kibaki regime had become rogue by allowing the Artur brothers to raid and burn Standard Newspapers.
With the referendum lost, Kibaki sacked Raila and Kalonzo, then signed an MOU with KANU Chairman Uhuru Kenyatta and retired President Moi.
Twenty years later, President Ruto has opened the Kibaki files… and is building a vehicle for his reelection.
Kibaki–Uhuru (KANU) 2007 vs Ruto–Gideon Moi 2025
Kibaki used Kikuyu elders to suppress Uhuru’s 2007 presidential bid. The carrot was that GEMA would back him after Kibaki’s retirement in 2012. Uhuru, young, energetic, and well-funded, chose tribe over a volcanic opposition.
Then came the 2008 post-election violence, triggered by the disputed 2007 election. Uhuru was later indicted by the ICC over alleged links to Mungiki revenge attacks.
In 2013, Kibaki abandoned his deputy Kalonzo Musyoka in favor of his tribesman Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto. They won.
Gideon Moi was President Daniel arap Moi’s favorite son. William Ruto was Moi’s political hatchet man in the Rift Valley, identified and nurtured to ensure Gideon would one day become Kenya’s 5th president.
But Ruto turned on his mentor in 2007 by pushing the Kalenjin bloc to Raila Odinga. Since then, Ruto has never publicly criticized the Moi family, he’s treated them with kid gloves in public while quietly tightening their economic leash in private.
All was well until the late Baringo Senator’s death triggered a by-election. The younger Moi knows the Kalenjin love power and will stop at nothing to ensure Ruto’s victory in 2027.
Gideon could have given UDA a real scare. Ruto won’t risk being embarrassed by a Moi victory, so he’s drafted a sweetheart deal too tempting for the Moi camp to ignore.
In Kenya’s tribe-based politics, Moi and Ruto found easy agreement.
For Gideon Kipsiele, the deal includes a Cabinet slot, something he’s never held, and sweeteners like lucrative tenders for his enterprises.
Moi, a close friend of Evans Kidero and lawyer Philip Murgor, consulted widely. His business interests span shipping, energy, hospitality, an inland depot, and The Standard newspaper, which he once weaponized against the government.
And the irony remains: Uhuru succeeded Kibaki. Who would choke on their tea if Moi succeeded Ruto?
For now, it makes sense for Gideon to hitch a ride on the wheelbarrow. It’s dented, but it rolls—and he needs protection from economic rivals. Without resources, he can’t fund KANU, let alone sustain the vast Moi empire.
With the 4th president comfortably seated on the wheelbarrow, Gideon’s in good company. After all, Rigathi Gachagua is the sworn enemy of the Mois, the Odingas, the Kenyattas—and above all, President William Samoei Ruto.
