Ruto's next step after Hague visit

By Biketi Kikechi

Eldoret North MP William Ruto returns home on Sunday morning after making a surprise appearance at Luis Moreno-Ocampo's offices in The Hague this week.

Ruto, last evening told The Standard on Sunday on telephone that all had gone well during the trip and he was scheduled to leave Schipol Airport in Amsterdam at 9pm last night for Nairobi on a KLM flight.

For many Kenyans, Ruto’s decision to meet the International Criminal Court officers came both as a shocker and an act of bravery. The move by Ruto was shocking because not many politicians in countries where the ICC is investigating cases volunteer to meet the dreaded Moreno-Ocampo.

But what next for the politician who rose from a junior officer in Kanu’s YK ’92 lobby group to rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty in the corridors of power? And will his bold move be a shot in the arm or a dent to his political career?

The Eldoret North MP, who was two weeks ago suspended from Cabinet as he grapples with a criminal case against him, is a passionate politician whose charisma has seen him steadily climb the political ladder.

Ruto was adversely mentioned in initial investigation reports carried out by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. During the initial investigations, Ruto was the Minister for Agriculture and a close ally of Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The options then were for the country to either set up a local tribunal or welcome the International Criminal Court to investigate post elections violence.

Expectations in the country were that politicians would only visit The Hague at the hour of reckoning after Moreno-Ocampo’s men come visiting with arrest warrants.

“Ruto’s meeting with ICC could allow him to work with the court without necessarily being arrested or detained should he be indicted,” said lawyer Harun Ndubi.

That alone, will be a plus for the MP who has made it clear that he would be decamping from ODM with about 20 MPs from Rift Valley and like-minded MPs in the party from other regions.

If he decamps from ODM and manages to hold sway among voters in the Kalenjin-dominated regions of the Rift Valley, he would leave Raila looking for a voting bloc to plug the hole that would have been left. Ruto is expected to work with Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta in what has been dubbed the KKK Alliance in the 2012 General Election.

Most of his colleagues argue that Ruto is innocent and is therefore playing the role of a sacrificial lamb on behalf of ODM because the violence began following the disputed presidential election results.

ODM leaders, including Raila and Secretary General Anyang’ Nyong’o, were not very keen to discuss Ruto’s departure to The Hague at the party retreat in Naivasha on Saturday.

“The decision by Ruto to go to The Hague is personal and not a party decision or mandate,” said Raila in Naivasha on Friday evening.

Ruto left for The Hague in the company of Belgut MP Charles Keter to join an advance team of lawyers Katwa Kigen and Dr Kindiki Kithure who were to listen to the issues raised by the ICC investigators.

But why does Ruto elicit both love and hate in equal measure?

In ODM for example, he has a strong following among a section of Kalenjin MPs.

Ruto has come out as passionate and articulate in his speeches. Those who have worked closely with him describe him as a go-getter who spends all his energy on achieving his goals.

Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo who worked with Ruto for many years in YK ’92 avoided questions on what kind of person Ruto is. He instead described the trip to The Hague as a public relations coup for others.

“Ruto owns The Hague process now, and whoever will want to go there now will not enjoy the same limelight as he has done,” Jirongo told The Standard on Sunday.

In so doing, Ruto will deal with the stereotype that he either planned or funded the violence, which rocked many parts of the country during the mayhem.

“He is doing the way Raila confronted his past, by writing his biography to confront the image portrayed against him as a dangerous man, with violent supporters and a man who wanted to overthrow the Government,” said Jirongo.

Mr Ndubi attributes the latest move by Ruto as an act of political survival but warns that it is only a game those with financial muscle can win.

“Politicians who have been charged with hate speech offences recently, for instance, are not half as financially capable as Ruto to hire a dozen top notch lawyers and fly them to The Hague.

“I am willing to bet that Parliament will now be more than willing to pass a local tribunal Bill if it were brought back,” Ndubi told The Standard on Sunday.

Farouk Kibet, an Eldoret politician and close ally of Ruto described him as very pragmatic. “He gives practical solutions to problems in the society owing to his humble background,” he said

Mr Isaac Maiyo, a close associate of the MP said that he is a hard worker who burns midnight oil to get solutions to problems.

“He gives you a job and he expects you to deliver on your mandate with less supervision,” Maiyo said.