Mark Too ditches Kanu for Ruto camp

Thursday, 14 April 2011 00:03 BY MATHEWS NDANYI

Former nominated MP Mark Too has quit Kanu amid controversy over his links with Eldoret North MP William Ruto and other Rift Valley MPs.
The former MP who recently hosted Ruto and his supporters at his home, has been a close ally of retired President Moi but has kept off for the last one month.
Yesterday he declined to comment on the fallout saying the matter was a private affair and he was a free person with the right to choose his own friends and groups to join. “I’m not in a position to discus that at the moment,” said Too.
Kanu youth from Baringo, Keiyo, Marakwet, Uasin Gishu and Nandi yesterday complained that the former President still retained draconian and primitive political practices of frustrating resourceful members of the party like Too.
He said they had learned of Too’s exit after he failed to appear at meetings attended by Moi within the last one month despite the fact that he (Too) was present in the area. Too hosts Moi at his home whenever the former President visits the region for Kanu rallies. “We wonder why Kanu still affords to chase away important people when the party is now a shell of its former self. Let the party leaders tell us who they want to remain in Kanu so that the rest of us can quit,” said Paul Kipruto who led the youth representatives.
However sources said he differed with some Kanu leaders after he attended the prayer meeting hosted by Ruto’s group at the Kipchoge Stadium in Kapsabet last month.
After the prayer meeting held for the Ocampo Six suspects, Ruto’s entourage met at Too’s home near Kosirai. Another group of MPs led by Saboti’s Eugene Wamalwa had also been hosted at the same venue. Sources say Kanu bigwigs were not happy with Too’s decision to host the MPs.
Too is known to enjoy wide political networks and is a shrewd operator and schemer in the Rift Valley region and Ruto’s group will benefit from his networks.
He was one of the key Kanu strategists in the region along with former nominated MP Ezekiel Bargetunyi. Other Kanu leaders in the region declined to comment on the fallout in the party.