It is whispered in low tones, but many quietly agree: the politicians who once clung to Baba’s coattails for survival are living on borrowed time. For years, their only manifesto was loyalty — “elect us so we can help Baba up there.” That chant carried them through election cycles, insulating them from accountability and masking thin development records. Their survival strategy was proximity, not performance — and they abused that proximity.Today, the ground has shifted. They can feel it. They know they have lost the people because they did too little with too much trust. And now a new political light is rising in President William Ruto. In this moment of realignment, they see not ideology but salvation: another coattail to grasp, a fresh source of state largesse, a ticket that promises protection and re-election. They calculate that aligning with the president’s camp — or simply leveraging his name — will let them play both sides: invoke his power while still drawing from ODM’s emotional reservoir. This is the brigade that will distort what Baba said for expediency, the loose cannons who shout the loudest that “Baba left us in the Broad-Based Government” (which is true) but then add their own convenient version — even where the president himself has made different admissions — that Baba endorsed Tutam.They will shout Tutam and try to force ODM to sing Tutam, arguing that come 2027 they will either be in government or form government. But their shouting is tactical, meant to secure a piece of the president’s coattail. From where I sit, such an arrangement benefits the president far more than it benefits them. President Ruto can quietly bless ODM incumbents who deliver pockets of votes while simultaneously unleashing UDA or independent challengers to compete in the same constituencies. In doing so, he turns ODM strongholds into open hunting grounds, mopping up votes from bottom to top — and he does it with a veneer of magnanimity, the same generosity he displayed in Baba’s final days, capped by that deeply personal speech in Bondo that suggested not just respect but genuine affection and history.As this political season unfolds, the ground is unforgiving. Incumbents who relied on Baba’s aura now face the electorate’s brutal honesty. The playing field is levelling and, suddenly, the only viable shield is actual performance. Those who did little must race against time. Those who weaponised proximity — who bullied rivals and hoarded power under the banner of loyalty — now find themselves exposed. They are many, they are nervous, and beyond singing praises for survival they will come out guns blazing against ODM members who still hold the party’s ideals with fidelity. In the new order, loyalty without delivery is a liability. The president may align with them for convenience, but he is just as happy to entertain fresh challengers who can bring new votes from the grassroots. Walk down any Kenyan street and you will hear names; the praise-singers now sound as confused as their paid bloggers.In short, the era of comfort is over. The politics of inheritance has met the politics of hustle. In this terrain, nostalgia cannot compete with performance, and blind loyalty cannot outrun tangible results. For those who took Baba’s name as a licence to stagnate, the writing is on the wall. This is the reckoning: the cold reality that loyalty alone no longer guarantees power. Delivery matters. Performance counts. We are entering a phase where slogans cannot substitute for results.The politics of weaponising proximity to the enigma is colliding with a politics of effort — where persuasion, delivery and measurable impact define leadership. For those who built careers by invoking Baba’s name in ODM strongholds as a shield rather than a summons to public service, the music has stopped. For those whose careers thrived on the loudest, most vicious attacks on Baba, the lights are on — and the electorate is watching. In his characteristic, enigmatic fashion, Baba has left you exposed, in the public interest. Deliver, or be shipped out.The wheel of politics is turning, separating myth from merit, history from delivery, and loyalty from leadership. It may be whispered now, but it will be declared loudly at the ballot box. The old comfort of abusing proximity to Baba is gone. The era of work — real work — has arrived.