Ruto, Uhuru dismiss Raila claim

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By JOHN NJAGI jnjagi@ke.nationmedia.com AND OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Wednesday, November 7  2012 at  00:30

IN SUMMARY

• Mr Ruto accused the PM of engaging in politics of expediency, saying it appeared his comments were not in line with his party ODM
• Separately, Mr Kenyatta’s spokesman said no one could believe Mr Odinga’s promise that he would defer the ICC cases to Kenya once he was elected president
• Mr Ruto urged his former ally to engage in politics of honesty and stop deceiving Kenyans by frequently changing positions on issues
• At the same time, four MPs allied to Mr Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) dismissed the PM’s comments and asked him to act on his words if he was really serious about it

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Presidential aspirants William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday dismissed comments by Prime Minister Raila Odinga that he would have the cases against them at The Hague brought home.

Mr Ruto accused the PM of engaging in politics of expediency, saying it appeared his comments were not in line with his party ODM. (Read: Winning polls won't stop ICC trials, Raila tells Uhuru, Ruto)

“It is on record the PM said that we should not be free men but should be in the gallows,” he said, castigating the PM for shifting positions.

Separately, Mr Kenyatta’s spokesman said no one could believe Mr Odinga’s promise that he would defer the ICC cases to Kenya once he was elected president.

“When the government went out to convince the UN Security Council over deferral, ODM wrote to say it wasn’t party (to the effort). When did they get on the road to Damascus?” Mr Munyori Buku asked.

Mr Ruto also said he held a meeting with Mr Odinga where he turned down an offer to be his running mate, and accused the Lang’ata MP of attacking him later with claims that he was neither fit to be president nor running mate.

“If I was fit to be a running mate when I was meeting him, how come when I refused the offer he now claims I am not fit to be a president or running mate?” he asked.

Mr Ruto urged his former ally to engage in politics of honesty and stop deceiving Kenyans by frequently changing positions on issues.

He was speaking at the URP party offices on Ngong Road in Nairobi, where he received defectors from Trans Mara constituency and Narok County led by former Party of National Unity (PNU) chairman Gideon Konchellah.

Mr Odinga claimed during a meeting with Kalenjin elders in Eldoret on Monday that he would fight for the ICC cases facing four Kenyans among them Mr Ruto, Mr Kenyatta, former head of civil service Mr Francis Muthaura and Radio Presenter Joshua arap Sang, to be heard in Kenya if elected president in the March 4 General Election.

Mr Ruto said the Prime Minister missed an opportunity to sell his party’s agenda during the Eldoret visit, by choosing to “deceive” a bunch of elders.

The URP party leader at the weekend said the Kalenjin community would forgive the Prime Minister, following his apology to the community, but would not give him votes.

Dujis MP Aden Duale said the ICC matter was secondary to the party, stressing that its priority was to build alliances with suitable parties and to win the election.

“Once our candidate is in State House after the March 4 election — that is when we will deal with the secondary issue of the ICC,” he said.

At the same time, four MPs allied to Mr Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) dismissed the PM’s comments and asked him to act on his words if he was really serious about it.

Naivasha MP John Mututho said the PM’s comments were a confirmation of their “suspicions” that he was using the ICC cases politically.

“We have always suspected that he (Mr Odinga) has the key on how they can be tried here or there (The Hague),” Mr Mututho said.

Moyale’s Abdul Bahari said it was known that the ICC cases were being handled at The Hague but it was now “surprising that the PM had the power to defer the cases”.

“We have always said that this case is political and from what the PM has said then we have no reason but to believe that the cases are being used politically,” Embakasi MP Ferdinard Waititu added.