Sunday, March 11, 2012

Ruto, Uhuru hit back at Raila over 'prayer rallies' remark


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Eldoret North MP William Ruto addresses the congregation at St Mathews Anglican Church of Kenya in Eldoret town on March 11, 2012.
Photo/JARED NYATAYA/NATION Eldoret North MP William Ruto addresses the congregation at St Mathews Anglican Church of Kenya in Eldoret town on March 11, 2012.  
By JONATHAN KOMEN jkomen@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Sunday, March 11  2012 at  16:37
Prime Minister Raila Odinga should not use his post to call for the arrest of those he considers his rivals, Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto said on Sunday.


Mr Kenyatta said it was unfortunate for the PM to make such remarks considering International Criminal Court (ICC) matters were sensitive.
“It is such reckless remarks that led to the 2007 crisis which led to the loss of lives and property. He must not be allowed to polarise our country in this manner,” he said.
Mr Ruto said the PM should be the first person to be jailed if the post-election violence mystery is to be resolved since a Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) report had implicated him.
“In fact he (Raila) became the greatest beneficiary after the violence,” he said.
The Eldoret North MP said findings of the KNCHR report should be made public for Kenyans to know other perpetrators of the 2007-2008 post-election violence.
“If he is branding us as criminals, what about the allegations contained in the report that say he is the beneficiary of the violence,” the Eldoret North MP said.
In an interview with the US based Kass FM, Mr Odinga called for prayer rallies organised by the G7 Alliance to be cancelled as they were amounting to incitement. (READ: Cancel all G7 rallies, Raila says)
A statement from PM Odinga's Secretariat in the Sunday Nation reads:
"These suspects of crimes against humanity remain free to traverse the country holding 'prayer meetings' while Kenyan suspects of the lesser crime of murder conduct their prayers only behind the forbidding walls of Kamiti Maximum Security Prison," the statement reads.
In response to the statement, Mr Ruto said: “It is obvious and beyond reasonable doubt that the author, mastermind and architect of this grand scheme against us to be prosecuted politically and unfairly is actually done by Mr Odinga.”
Speaking during a press conference at St Mathews Anglican Church of Kenya, Eldoret on Sunday, the United Republican Party (URP) leader said Mr Odinga was vilifying them now that he holds the PM post yet it was only formed to end the stalemate after the 2007 General Election.
“Mr Odinga now believes we are criminals and should be behind bars. But he should have been put in before us. He is actually the principle beneficiary of the post-election violence,” he said.
Mr Ruto said the PM should not use his post to call for the arrest of his rivals. “There has been a consistent pattern in ODM and the party wrote letters to the effect that we should be tried at The Hague.
“This is now being followed to the letter by his collaborators in Europe who want us to be detained when we attend ICC summons,” he said.
Mr Ruto said this “was a confirmation that Mr Odinga was part of the scheme to have them detained by ICC in the pretext that prayer meetings going around the country.”
“Pray for us, we Kenyan politicians and leaders so that we set all our plans in a manner that will bring together Kenyans,” he added.

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