Page 4 - THE RHINO Issue 001

03 MECHANICSOF
REBELLION : RUTO
STORY FROM GOD Uhuru will have the last laugh
BY JONATHAN MAINA
OUR COLUMNIST
Jonathan is a research fellow at The Fort Hall School of Government and a PhD Candidate in Political Economy at SMC University.
This is a story for our Deputy President, William Ruto. The story is about a man with a vengeful and a self-promoting spirit. It is about a man who, at every opportunity undermined his boss. It is about a man who ultimately attempted to overthrow his own father, the King, but failed miserably.
In all Israel, according to the Holy Bible, “there was not a man so highly praised for his hand- some appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him.” Upon being re-admitted to the
King’s Court, having been pardoned for the murder of his brother Am- non, Absalom spied an opportunity to claim his father’s throne.
Without his father’s permission, Absalom positioned himself as the King’s representative, to adjudicate the disputes of the Israelites. His intention was not to lighten his father’s burden by deputizing him. It was to gain political currency for himself. And so, he broke into his father’s political bedroom little-by-little. Near the city’s gates, he set up a parallel court, where he met the people of Israel and won their hearts by undermining his father. In order to gain currency, he even humbled himself. We are told that: “whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him.”
He conducted this uninterrupted guerrilla campaign for four years straight. And by the end of it, he had won the hearts and minds of Israel. On the fifth year, he decided to retreat to his political strong- hold to launch the coup. And so, he conjured a cover story. He told his father that the purpose of the retreat to Hebron was to fulfil a promise made to Elohim the Almighty. It had nothing to do with politics, he said. With such noble intentions, the King, a devout follower of Elohim could not decline. David gave him his blessing.
Absalom wasted no time once he got to Hebron. Slowly but surely, Hebron became Israel’s new center of power. In a matter of weeks, he was able to put together a powerful coup-making coalition. First, he brought hundreds of Jerusalem’s bourgeoise with him. Then he sent out for King David’s chief adviser, Ahithophel.
Ahithophel, we are told, was a divinely or- dained adviser. In other words, he literally had a direct wire to Elohim. Absalom knew that with Ahithophel on his side, he would be unstoppable. Indeed, with such a formi- dable constellation, his support base be- came so strong that David was advised to flee Jerusalem.
And so, the coup, carried out over a period of 4 years, in small installments where he undermined and chipped away at the credi- bility of the King, finally succeeded.
Upon entering Jerusalem as King, Absa- lom sought to solidify his position. First, he took over his father’s house and colonized his concubines. He made a public display of physically making the concubines his own. And then he trained his guns on David.
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