RUTO 2ND-MOST CORRUPT PERSON AFTER ASSAD?

Kenya’s President William Ruto has been pipped to the post by Syria’s deposed Bashar al-Assad as 2024’s Corrupt Person of the Year. The award is made annually by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which solicited nominations from the public.

Kenyans, though, have been left wondering whether the OCCRP itself has been handed a kickback, as their president got a record 40,000 online nominations - yet only came second, despite swimming deep in allegations of mis-governance and overseeing a deadly crackdown on protests. Ruto is also reportedly the world’s highest paid leader when adjusted for Kenya’s economic output - something that hardly sits right, given his county’s dire financial state.

The jury said they ultimately picked Assad because of his “far-reaching and devastating” influence. Some aren’t buying that, speculating that the competition was rigged to bring greater legitimacy to Assad’s removal from power by (supposedly ex) extremists in late 2024.

What do you think?

Sources:

https://www.occrp.org/en/person-of-the-year/bashar-al-assad

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q0w1g8zqvo

https://theconversation.com/hotbed-of-corruption-kenyas-elite-have-captured-the-state-unrest-is-inevitable-233562

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39nyvvmne8o

https://www.citizen.digital/news/ruto-receives-record-breaking-nominations-for-occrp-corrupt-person-of-the-year-title-n355189

https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/22/what-the-west-got-wrong-in-syria/