Why Raila will have to kneel before Ruto and beg for his forgiveness

By KWAMCHETSI MAKOKHA
Posted Friday, November 5 2010 at 20:16

Unless Prime Minister Raila Odinga shows contrition for the betrayals he has served on Comrade William Ruto, he will soon be eclipsed by the latter’s irresistible rise to power.

Nothing could be a bigger harbinger of this than the suspended Higher Education minister’s trip this week to The Hague to meet with the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mr Louis Moreno-Ocampo. Mr Ruto strode, in a manner of speaking, into the jaws of the crocodile unafraid.

First, Mr Ruto has succeeded in edging the Prime Minister away from all the important headlines. Even after being — in the words of the Presidential Press Service — “stepped aside” from his day job, Mr Ruto has kept busy working for the common mwananchi by appearing in the courts, attending fund-raising lunches with foreign presidents and issuing pronouncements of a portentous nature.

Then comes this meeting with the ICC chief prosecutor! Such an encounter might not only motivate Mr Ruto to speak extensively about himself, but also to mention Mr Odinga’s decisive leadership during moments of crisis in Kenya such as the one the ICC is investigating.

Mr Odinga, being a humble man, should be afraid of being over-praised in such a meeting, given Mr Ruto’s track record in talking to the powerful. Why, the Eldoret North MP awakes at 4am every day to offer supplication for an hour before setting his mind to work.

So enraptured in Mr Ruto’s pleadings is the Almighty at that time that anyone sending contrary prayers usually finds that the lines are totally jammed.

Were ICC chief prosecutor to be exposed to by Mr Ruto’s oration, he might even invite him to stay on at The Hague in the role of Scheherazade, teller of tales, all to the detriment of Mr Odinga’s political ambitions. With his talents, he might join the Witness Protection Programme, or even be offered permanent residence – all to Mr Odinga’s detriment.

For was it not Mr Ruto that spoke to his people and asked them to adopt Mr Odinga as one of their own, naming him Arap Mibey? Was it not Mr Ruto that single-handedly delivered all of Mr Odinga’s presidential votes in the populous Rift Valley Province and then stood up to the Electoral Commission of Kenya about the theft of his party’s votes in 48 constituencies?

Was it not Mr Ruto who prayed for fruitful talks at the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation meetings and then eye-balled Ms Martha Karua and the negotiators from the Party of National Unity and ODM Kenya to secure a half-loaf government for Mr Odinga as well as the job of Prime Minister? Mr Odinga’s political career might never recover from Mr Ruto’s absence – voluntary or enforced.

It is time for Mr Odinga to cut his losses, eat his pride and go before Mr Ruto on bended knee to ask for forgiveness. The offences and betrayals are varied, but the following are perhaps the most significant.

Mr Odinga should seek general and aggravated forgiveness for betraying Mr Ruto by campaigning for the passage of the new Constitution when he knew it could lead to his chief strategist losing his job on account of a seven-year court case. Friends do not do that to each other.

Another stinging betrayal Mr Odinga must apologise for is overseeing the eviction of thousands of voters from Mau Complex, thus exposing his insensitivity to the contributions made by these constituents to engineering nature by cultivating tea and other crops in a forest.

Targeting former President Daniel Moi was particularly callous since losing the 2,000-acre Kaptagich Tea Estate would render him a squatter. Mr Odinga’s failure to order a blanket amnesty for youth who set buildings on fire, looted and raped in the fight for free and fair elections is a stain on his democratic credentials for which he should be permanently ashamed.

It demonstrated a weakness in his leadership and a fear to stand up for what is right. Further, Mr Odinga has never bucked up his lieutenants. Even when malevolent forces were dragging Mr Ruto’s name through the mud, suggesting that he had been involved in the maize importation scandal, he never said a word.

Instead, he tried to have Mr Ruto suspended. Were it not for Mr Ruto’s quick action in seeking audience with President Kibaki, the Prime Minister would have been embarrassed no end.

Given his poor leadership of the Orange Democratic Movement, refusal to approve strategic engagement with vote-rich blocs such as the KKK Alliance – evidenced by the loss of by-elections in South Mugirango, Matuga and Makadara — the only apology Mr Odinga can offer is to step aside from the party ticket so that Mr Ruto can run for President in 2012.

Short of that, the Prime Minister will not have rest.

kwamchetsi@formandcontent.co.ke