Looking at the comments on nearly all of her Twitter (X) posts one cannot help but think that Charlene Chelagat Ruto is the most bullied First Daughter Kenya has ever had since independence.
A casual look at the purpose for her bullying turns out to be how people perceive their President. For some reason the purported ills associated with her father have been transferred to Charlene and the whole of the Ruto family.
It’s saddening to note that immediately after ascending to office word slipped out of State House that First Lady Rachel Ruto had engaged around 200 prayer warriors on a full-time basis to be paid out of the public kitty. The furore that arose out of this claim had Kenyans attacking her spirituality with charges of hypocrism — since then Mrs Ruto has not been so ostentatious and public in her spiritual activity.
There’s the son George who is associated with matatu mania and has been the bane of public criticism particularly since the launch of MOOD.
Back to Charlene and you have to admit she is the most outgoing of the president’s seven children. She also has a gravitas and charisma all her own that she has maintained through the brickbats thrown at her, giving her a fairly resilient independent identity.
Her siblings Stephanie, June and Nick Ruto lead fairly normal lives with George being another one who attracts plenty of media attention. Still focus on Charlene is more intense than on the others.
Of course, like anyone else, she has goofed in the past, hosting governors and trying to create the impression the Constitution recognizes the Office of the First Daughter or making wayward claims of selling smokies while a student at Daystar University. But whatever mistakes she has made in public, the amount of negative energy towards her cannot be justified.
Charlene suffers from a receding hairline and Kenyans have said all weird things about her forehead. The weirdest by her own admission is when she told an interviewer: “the weirdest thing I ever heard said about me is that am a lesbian,” she says chuckling, affectionately, adding “the truth is that am not.”
While giving her pep talks Charlene has often said “leadership is a very unpopular task. Some of these criticism we just have to live with.”
For the daughter of a Head of State Charlene is amour-tough, so tough that one wonders where she got her persevering temperament from.
Each day she withers the criticism, brickbats, insults and innuendos with a smile: her little affectionate, totally toothy-Kalenjin type of smile. One cannot help but admire her.
What is even more touching is that while she’s the target of so much criticism, Charlene goes out of her way and instead of hiding in her cocoon she goes out to offer comfort and encouragement to others through her youth leadership and mentorship programs.
You must give it to her that in the face of persecution Charlene Chelagat Ruto remains a strong-willed, purposeful, energetic and engaging young woman. A very humble , ordinary soul.
Perhaps it’s time Kenyans realized the only choice no one can exercise at all is to choose their parents. Charlene Chelagat Ruto is not President Dr William Samoei Ruto and it’s high time rightful thinking Kenyans cut her some slack.
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