RAILA VISITS ELDORET

Prime Minister Raila Odinga tours the North Rift on Friday even as his political relationship with Agriculture minister William Ruto remains frosty.

The PM is to be made a Kalenjin elder at Kesses centre in Eldoret South, Wareng District, before he traverses the larger Uasin Gishu and Marakwet districts for a series of rallies.

Mr Ruto, his political rival in ODM, was made a Kalenjin elder in 2007. Mr Odinga, who attended the ceremony, at the time praised Mr Ruto for his courage.

Development

According to one of the tour organisers, Mr Said Keitany, the PM is to address development issues of the region. However, the limitation - in the draft law - of land size one can own, investigations of the perpetrators of the post-election violence, nomination into the Cabinet and civil service are some of the burning issues the PM will be confronted with.

Others include the PM’s recent move to suspend Mr Ruto over corruption allegations and the Mau Forest evictions. “We expect a warm welcome as all arrangements have been put in place,” the PM’s spokesman, Mr Dennis Onyango, said.

The tour had twice been put off before due to the souring relationship between the two with claims that the PM sent informers to the Agriculture minister’s turf to test the waters. However, Mr Onyango dismissed the allegation as a rumour in a press release to newsrooms on Thursday.

ODM chairman Henry Kosgey is expected to lead a team of Rift Valley MPs to marshal support for the PM during the tour. Mr Kosgey has defended Mr Odinga, arguing that he champions the interests of Kenyans and that he would use the tour to explain his position on key issues.

However, MPs from the three constituencies of the larger Uasin Gishu District — Eldoret South, Eldoret East and Eldoret North — have vowed to snub the tour. The grand rally is expected to take place on Saturday at the 64 Stadium, which is in Mr Ruto’s constituency.

The PM has urged Kenyans to vote for the proposed constitution in the referendum while Mr Ruto and some Rift Valley MPs are opposed to the document, citing the land issue as the main bone of contention.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Mr Ruto attended a function in Eldoret on Tuesday where they demanded amendment of the Constitution of Kenya Review Act to pave the way for a renegotiation of contentious issues before the draft was subjected to a referendum later in the year.

Mr Ruto recently claimed in a vernacular radio station that Mr Odinga’s popularity in the region was at its lowest point. But the claims were disputed by the PM’s supporters who have challenged Mr Ruto and his group to ditch ODM instead of rocking it from within. “Mr Ruto and his group should declare where they belong as they seem to have lost political direction,” said Mr Musa Sirma, a close ally of the PM’s.