Although official position given for skipping the Eldoret show was that he was chairing a national security meeting and later hosting Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila at Harambee House office, we can reveal the President took advantage of the two events to skip the Rift Valley tour.
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| President Kibaki addreses a press conference at KICC last month. Some ODM MPs were present. Photo: Boniface Okendo/Standard |
Kibaki is under increased pressure to drop the new team of advisors tapped from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) faction led by Eldoret North MP, William Ruto. Going by the revelations through WikiLeaks - a spy website - members of the President’s think-tank have begun raising questions about Ruto’s trustworthiness.
Violence in Rift ValleyIn cables to Washington, US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger following the post-election said of Kibaki: "He should not blame Odinga for this, saying there are forces beyond his control. He said Mr Ruto one of the members of ODM is largely responsible for the continuing violence in Rift Valley."
The brewing rebellion since Ruto and fellow ODM rebels elbowed out some members of the President’s think-tank has reportedly placed the President in a quandary, made worse by revelations the relationship between the suspended minister and the Head of State had blossomed to the extent the MP now gets daily intelligence briefs.
Interestingly Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode are said to be out of the loop about the turn of events in the ministry and the party he chairs. The disgruntlement in PNU comes at a time the President and the ODM renegades are confident they have their common adversary, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, in a corner.
Imminent revoltSources, whose names we cannot reveal because of their positions in Government, say an imminent revolt in the President’s party has forced him to review his engagement with the ODM renegade MPs, who also include Agriculture Minister Sally Kosgei, Belgut MP Charles Keter, and Tourism Minister Najib Balala, among others.
In addition to the ODM rebels, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta of Kanu has teamed up with Ruto in one of he fiercest push to ‘deflate’ Raila, who multiple opinion surveys predict stands a better chance of winning presidential poll, due next year, despite falling support.
Nairobi Metropolitan Development Minister Njeru Githae denies there is discomfort in the party precipitated by the arrival of Ruto and company.
"This is a working relationship of like-minded MPs who have the welfare of this country at heart. In politics, the more the merrier," Githae says. He said the group is not joining PNU to take over its leadership.
"We need to bring the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin together even if they support different presidential aspirants," he points out. The Kikuyu and Kalenjin killed each other in the 2008 post-election violence resulting in the displacement of about 650,000 people, thousands of who still live in IDP camps. The mayhem claimed 1,133 lives.
However, relations between the two communities began thawing during the eviction of Mau Forest Complex illegal settlers. Githae says the bond strengthened further when the International Criminal Court named six chief suspects, among them, Ruto and Uhuru.
The President, sources say, was forced to cancel his second trip in two to Eldoret at the invitation of Ruto to open the agricultural show on Thursday.
When The Standard On Sunday sought details of why Kibaki delegated Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka to represent him, it was informed the President stayed behind to chair an urgent national security meeting.
Whatever the case, members of the President’s party have openly disagreed with him over his new ties with ODM MPs at the expense of his erstwhile advisors.
Own machineryWhile denying he or Prof Saitoti was aware of the intelligence reports, Mr Ojode says: "Reports about Ruto getting intelligence briefs are mere allegations. It cannot happen even if he were reappointed minister," says the assistant minister. He, however, says in the current political atmosphere anything is possible.
"You can never know what goes on behind my back. Ruto could be having his own machinery of gathering intelligence," he observes.
Ojode would not comment on why the PM was the subject of intelligence gathering.
Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba conceded when asked if his party, ODM, was aware Eldoret MP receives daily briefs on the Prime Minister.
"Prof Saitoti does not know what is going on in his own docket. Intelligence reports bypass him without his clearance," says Namwamba.
Assistant Minister for Public Works, Mwangi Kiunjuri, an ally of the President, admits there are leadership battles in the party. He, however, says the pent-up anger in PNU has nothing to do with the perceived raid of the President’s think-tank by the ODM MPs.
"Ruto has given PNU a fresh breath of life. The party was short of strategy before Ruto arrived. What we are seeing is rejuvenation of the party by someone who has reenergised our thinking," Kiunjuri says.
Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Kilemi Mwiria, who in a recent early morning talk show on Standard Group’s Radio Maisha FM, first made the disquiet in the party public warned the President against embracing the ODM rebels.
Dr Mwiria warned the President risked undoing his legacy by getting advice from Ruto and Uhuru. It is not enough to welcome them with open arms; they are self-seekers, Kilemi warned.
It is the same line of argument Saitoti has used to protest the unrestricted access and privileges the rebels have from the President.
The apprehension in PNU is based on fears the unrestricted access to national intelligence by their new allies could one day be used against them. According to Namwamba, the fears in PNU are premised on the former minister’s past, especially after deserting former President Moi, his colleagues in YK’92, United Democratic Movement (which he plans to reclaim) and ODM.
Says Namwamba, "It is clear that there is a mole in the intelligence machinery. It is The Watergate style of doing things points to desperation. This obsession with the PM is dangerous for this country," the MP, who the chairs of Committee on Legal Affairs, says.
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