Ruto, Uhuru allies train their guns on Raila

By JULIUS SIGEI, GEOFFREY RONO AND BENEDICT TIROP   newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, April 2 2011 at 22:44

In Summary

• The PM was blamed for the woes facing the Ocampo Six and accused of being the catalyst for poll violence by calling for mass action

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto on Saturday intensified their criticism of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, blaming him for the woes facing them at the International Criminal Court.

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The two, who were in Bomet attending a prayer rally for the Ocampo Six, were accompanied by four ministers and more than 30 MPs.

They said their journey to The Hague was the beginning of a grand march to State House and nothing would stop them.

Campaigning for Raila

“I used millions of shillings campaigning for Raila, I spent four sleepless nights at the KICC to ensure ODM votes would not be stolen, and then I spent another one and half months at the Serena meetings, only for him to demand that I be hang at the Hague,” said Mr Ruto.

“We voted for this man and even before the voting ink had dried, he was already pushing our people out of their homes,” the visibly bitter MP added.

On his part, Mr Kenyatta paraded MPs from all eight provinces of the country and said the leaders who were not in that line up would not be in the next government.

The two insisted their alliance will not be shaken by the evidence ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has.

“They were thinking that Mr Ruto and I will begin fighting each other over the evidence, but they are wrong. We shall go to The Hague and come back as solid as before,” Mr Kenyatta said.

Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa, who has become a newfound ally of the two, spoke just before Mr Ruto took to the podium and asked that the ICC process be depoliticised.

Livestock assistant minister Aden Duale and Ainamoi MP Benjamin Lang’at said that they will mobilise two million Kenyans to jam the Jomo Kenyatta Airport on April 11, the date the Ocampo Six are expected to arrive in Kenya from the Netherlands.

“We shall make Mombasa Road our parking yard and cripple traffic. We shall also fill Uhuru Park, and if you don’t have fare, ask Lang’at,”

Without him

“When Raila says Hague or no Hague Kenya will move, we are also telling him that this country can move on without him,” Mr Kenyatta said.

The DPM added that it was sad he was being targeted as among those who bear the greatest responsibility for the 2008 post-election violence, yet when he vied for president in 2002, he did not start any violence after losing to President Kibaki.

“Mr Ruto and I were not vying for president in 2007; how can we be said to have been the masterminds yet it was Mr Odinga who refused to go courts and instead called for mass action, which was the genesis of the killings and displacement of hundreds of thousand of people?” he asked.

Earlier in the day, demonstrators in Narok had blocked Mr Ruto’s convoy to demand the Eldoret North MP tackle the Mau Narok land dispute with the same intensity he had the Mau Forest resettlement issue.

Speaking on the issue, Mr Kenyatta said his Finance ministry had only made available the money for buying land for the displaced, but was not involved in choosing where the land was bought.

He said he had set aside Sh1.8 billion for IDPs and told Lands minister James Orengo to address the concerns of the local community in Mau Narok opposed to the resettlement of IDPs, instead of passing around the blame.

Tourism minister Najib Balala said it was wrong for just the six to be singled out for bearing the greatest responsibility for the post-election violence, saying the whole political class was responsible.

“Truth and reconciliation would have been the way to go as Kibaki and Raila had shaken hands and shared power. If we go on punishing just a few, is it fair? he asked.

Their hour of need

Roads minister Franklin Bett, Energy assistant minister Magerer Lang’at and nominated MP Musa Sirma received a dressing down for “neglecting their sons” in their hour of their need.

Naivasha MP John Mututho claimed that Ocampo was using rumours and news report to compile his evidence rather than researched work.

“I have evidence that an American paid Sh80 million in the computing centre to have the six accused. I have evidence to that effect and I can table it if challenged,” he added.

Kass FM presenter Joshua arap Sang accused ODM of frustrating his efforts to seek financial assistance from the ICC, insisting he was not a member of a political party.

“I was sadly shocked when I received communication yesterday from the ICC telling me they would not fund me because I had received funding from ODM. I want to ask Raila Odinga: What amount have I received from the party and when?”

Other politicians present included assistant ministers Beatrice Kones and Margaret Kamar and Sotik MP Joyce Laboso, who are considered Raila allies.