Pro-Raila MPs scramble to regain lost ground

By Vincent BartooRift Valley MPs allied to Prime Minister Raila Odinga have launched fresh attempts to have ODM regain lost political ground in the region.
They are appealing to the electorate to reconsider their stand over quitting the party, as advocated by some of their leaders led by Eldoret North MP William Ruto.
The pro-Raila MPs have defended their decision to go against the political grain in the region, arguing that the ongoing political undercurrents in the country was proof that their move was wise.
Led by Roads Minister Franklin Bett, the MPs have argued the decision by their colleagues to abandon the party that sponsored them to Parliament was a hasty one, which has not been well thought out, and should, therefore, be reconsidered.
MPs in the rebel wing of ODM have already indicated that they would decamp from ODM to the United Democratic Movement (UDM), to be used as their political vehicle for the 2012 General Election.
"When Kanu was vanquished in 2002, our community almost sunk to political oblivion. But thanks to ODM, our profile was raised to where we are now," said Bett.
Political risksHe said the Kalenjin were better off sticking to ODM as seeking other political avenues would expose them to a great deal of political risks.
"ODM is still the strongest party in the country. It has leaders who are reformists and untainted. Kenyans trust us more than other parties," said Bett.
He added that the exit plan from ODM by a section of Rift Valley MPs was not done in consultation.
"We were just told to leave (ODM) without us sitting down and discussing all the options available to us," said the Bureti MP.
Mr Bett said the Kalenjin should learn from other communities who do not make hasty political decisions or discriminate against their members who hold alternative views.
"Take the Kisii for example, they are united even though their leaders belong to different parties. They do not go demonising each other because others do not toe the same line," he added.
Bett said the Kalenjin should learn from the eagle and "carefully examine its political options instead of running all over the place blindly".
"The eagle perches itself on top of a tree so that it is able to see which prey it can catch. Let us plan like the eagle," he said.
Other Rift Valley MPs who have stood by the PM and ODM include Dr Joyce Laboso (Sotik), Beatrice Kones (Bomet), Magerer Langat (Kipkelion), Wilson Litole (Sigor), Rev Julius Murgor (Kapenguria) and Josephat Nanok (Turkana South).
Despite their move to mend fences with the Ruto group, it is not clear where Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey and his Aldai counterpart, Agriculture minister Dr Sally Kosgei currently stand.
The two have lately distanced themselves from the Ruto/Uhuru alliance and have not been seen at their rallies, an indication that they could probably be opposed to it.
Dr Laboso said there were no good reasons to quit ODM, instead propaganda was used to woo Rift Valley MPs and the electorate out of the party.
"Some of us are still firmly in ODM because it is the party that sponsored us to Parliament. We owe allegiance to it. Besides, there was no good reason given for us to quit," she said.
Reasons twistedLaboso said the reasons advanced to the Rift Valley electorate were twisted to portray the party leadership in bad light.
"The truth of the matter is that there was a lot of propaganda flying about that was well calculated to deceive our people," she added.
Mr Litole cited the Mau evictions as one issue that rebel MPs from Rift Valley capitalised on to mislead the electorate.
He disclosed that in one of the meetings held by Rift Valley MPs led by Ruto with President Kibaki, the Mau evictions were not opposed.
"I know because Ruto invited me to the meeting. They told Mzee (President) that they were fully behind the evictions because of its environmental impact," said Litole.
The MP said he was shocked when the MPs later went round holding meetings in Rift Valley castigating the PM for personally engineering the eviction of their people.
"That is the time I knew these people were not sincere and I stopped being party to their schemes," said Litole.
The MP accused MPs allied to Ruto of taking Rift Valley residents for a ride, saying their battles in ODM were motivated by selfish ambitions.
"Let us tell each other the truth. Ruto is fighting Raila because of his ambitions. Yet, ambitions cannot be realised with shortcuts. There is a God-given time," he added.
Litole said it was selfish of the Ruto led group to want to rally the whole of Rift Valley behind them.
"This is tantamount to muzzling democracy in Rift Valley. Look at Central, they have several parties under PNU, yet they work together harmoniously," he added.
Laboso said their decision to stick by ODM and support its party leader was out of principle and not sycophancy.
"Running and jumping around is not why some of us joined politics. Some of us have minds of our own and we cannot be herded around like cows," she said.
Laboso cited the new Constitution, which they campaigned for in Rift Valley despite strong opposition from the ground mounted by the Ruto led group.
Already, there appears to be cracks in the alliance between Ruto and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta. This was after Ruto declared that he would gun for the presidency.
Ruto, speaking on Kass FM last week, said he expected little support from Central Kenya in his quest for the presidency, as the region "does not vote for anyone else but their own".
But Ruto has since reassured his supporters that Rift Valley and Central Kenya will work together.