By EMEKA MAYAKA GEKARA gmayaka@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, December 11 2011 at 01:12
Posted Sunday, December 11 2011 at 01:12
Historical rivalries between the Kipsigis and the Nandi threaten to split Eldoret North MP William Ruto’s United Democratic Movement.
Party insiders who spoke to the Sunday Nation on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the press indicated that contrary to the widely held view that Mr Ruto has secured the Kalenjin vote, a critical chunk, especially the Kipsigis, do not like how the Eldoret North MP is handling the party.
They accuse Mr Ruto of edging out their sons from UDM leadership with the intention of replacing them with his cronies.
The Kipsigis account for about 50 per cent of the Kalenjin, which include 11 sub-tribes, and are quietly resisting what they see as political dominance by the Nandi, Mr Ruto’s sub-tribe.
In addition to the brewing discontent, Mr Ruto is facing an increasingly rebellious National Executive Council that is determined to maintain control of the party and cordon off his allies, especially sitting MPs.
On Thursday, the council overturned Mr Ruto’s decision that the party to hold grassroots elections in January.
The NEC argued that such a decision had not been reached and that their term ends in 2013.
There is also a strong feeling that Mr Ruto has side-stepped the party’s NEC when making key policy decisions.
The Eldoret North MP is said to have been instrumental in the efforts to remove Lt-Gen (rtd) John Koech as the UDM chairman.
The former army chief is from Ainamoi constituency in the South Rift and has gone to court to fight his ouster.
Mr Ruto’s allies replaced him with former Kenya National Union of Teachers chairman Joseph Chirchir, also from the South Rift.
The Eldoret MP is now pushing for former House Speaker Francis ole Kaparo as chairman.
“Some key people in the South Rift have started forming the impression that he has no regard for them,” said Mr Stanley Rotich, a member of the party’s National Executive Council who hails from Sotik.
“We are alarmed by the way Mr Ruto has gone round the country saying that Mr Kaparo is the party chairman. We have not conducted any election,” he told the Sunday Nation.
The presidency
Mr Ruto has indicated he intends to vie for the presidency on a UDM ticket. Though not an official of UDM, Mr Ruto and a group of MPs have been attending UDM meetings as “friends” of the party and have been on a spirited drive across the country to market it.
It has also emerged that a number of MPs from the South Rift are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto, whom they accuse of interfering with their constituencies.
Last week Mr Ruto, who comes from Bomet County, went to Kericho town and held a meeting with leaders considered opponents of Belgut MP Charles Keter and his Ainamoi counterpart Benjamin Lang’at.
While some in the MP’s camp believed that the Chepalungu MP did not act on his own, Mr Lang’at did not hide his disgust at what he termed the latter’s “old-style Kanu politics whose time had passed”.
“But we don’t believe he has William’s blessings,” he said, adding that the fight in the party was an indication of its vibrancy.
However, Kipkelion MP Magerer Lang’at blamed the Eldoret North MP for Mr Keter’s and Mr Lang’at’s woes. “He has contempt for the Kipsigis people and its leaders. He even went on air on Kass FM on Monday to allege that I was not validly elected. What contempt is that?” asked the Energy assistant minister.
He also questioned the move by former Agricultural Development Corporation Managing Director William Kirwa to launch his presidential bid in Kericho last week. Mr Kirwa comes from Eldoret.
“Despite our numbers, we are being taken for granted, and every Tom, Dick and Harry thinks they can come here fishing for votes,” said Mr Lang’at.
These new roadblocks add to Mr Ruto’s problems in his quest to consolidate Kalenjin Rift Valley
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