RUTO VS RAILA

A fresh war of words has broken out between Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s allies.

On Monday, Raila’s allies told off Ruto for claiming at the weekend that Raila had turned his back on him after the two worked closely together during the 2007 campaigns.

ODM organising secretary Anyang’ Nyong’o rebutted Ruto’s accusations, saying the party had passed resolutions on the issues Ruto was blaming the PM for.

He said the minister’s claims on Raila’s stand on post-election violence and Mau were ‘fictitious’.

"Hon Ruto has all the opportunity within the party structures as well as in Government to discuss the practical issues of implementing this resolution with he PM. Constantly inciting ethnic animosity by finding fictitious faults with his party leader in public is simply undermining the party and weakening the solidarity of its members at the national level," Nyong’o said.

In the terse statement sent to newsrooms, Prof Nyong’o said contrary to Ruto’s claims, the PM stood by the youth who were accused of engaging in the post-election violence.

The statement followed comments Ruto at the weekend that Raila had forsaken those who supported him during the campaigns.

Speaking in Kipkelion, Ruto hit hard at the PM accusing him of turning his back on him soon after the last elections.

Ruto said he sacrificed a lot of his time at the KICC during the presidential vote-tallying, a dispute that led to the current coalition government with Raila as PM.

Said Ruto: "I have no grudge against the PM whom I fought so hard for to become PM. I am surprised he turned his back on me and those who struggled for him following the flawed elections."

Incite the public

On Mau Forest, Ruto accused Raila of betraying the Kalenjin by supporting evictions but yesterday the party said the PM’s firm stand was as per the party position and nothing personal.

Nyong’o claimed the minister was out to "incite the public against the PM" and using what it termed "fictitious faults" to weaken ODM.

After Nyongo’s statement, three ODM MPs allied to Ruto came to his defence, saying they fully support his assertions.

MPs Isaac Ruto, Julius Kones and Joshua Kuttuny said the PM betrayed the entire Kalenjin community by pushing for the evictions from the Mau water tower and over his stand on the arrests of youth from the Rift Valley over post-election violence.

"It was not only William Ruto who was betrayed but the entire Kalenjin community. Raila did not bother to feel what those who were arrested went through but only wanted them punished for standing by his desire for power," said the Chepalungu MP.

Kuttuny said it was wrong to claim that it was a party decision to evict people from the Mau and "throw them into the cold".

In his statement, Nyong’o had said the evictions from Mau had been agreed upon both in Government and in ODM circles.

Kuttuny said the Agriculture Minister was not disrespectful to the party leader but was merely exercising his democratic rights.

"The party’s swift reaction to Ruto’s concerns about the manner the PM was handling matters was a confirmation that whatever he was doing had the blessings of the party," said Kuttuny.

Dr Kones said he was not surprised with the immediate reaction by the party adding, "the PM was the first person to insist that everyone carries his or her own cross. He has not acknowledged he is a PM today as a product of mass action of which he was the chief architect’.

"We are now convinced that some national party officials colluded with the PM to frustrate our people and (William) Ruto," said Kuttuny.

The three MPs who spoke separately said the PM took charge of the Mau evictions "as if it was an emergency simply because he wanted to punish our people".

Rewarded lucratively

But another group of MPs allied to Raila joined the war of words and defended Raila against the accusations levelled against him.

The MPs were Shakeel Shabbir (Kisumu Town East), Pollyns Ochieng’ Daima (Nyakach), Olago Aluoch (Kisumu Town West) and Fred Outa (Nyando).

Ochieng’ termed Ruto’s claims unjustified.

"Ruto was rewarded lucratively by Raila for his efforts after the bungled General Election. He should stop crying foul," said Ochieng.

He went on: "His is one of the top ministries. It has 29 parastatals which Ruto is in charge of and has used to build himself politically".

He added other leaders like Cabinet ministers Henry Kosgey, James Orengo and Charity Ngilu put up a spirited fight at KICC during the controversial presidential vote tallying and are content with portfolios the PM gave them.

"Ruto should learn to appreciate. He should know that he is not the only one in ODM," he added.

Shabbir said Ruto was a political bully "but the problem is that he is trying to bully the wrong person,"

Olago said he was surprised at Ruto for opening up a healing wound.

"Many ODM leaders played a role in ensuring the party shared power after the bungled elections. Some were rewarded like him and others were not because there are no slots for all of us," said Olago.

Outa said dropping Ruto from the Cabinet was long overdue and urged the PM not to be lenient on him.

Ruto could not be reached for comment.