The first question that came to the minds of many after Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto first indicated a willingness to work together, was why would the two men accused of bearing the greatest responsibility for the 2007/08 post-election violence want to work together.
The only thing that came to the minds of many was that here were two individuals for whom circumstances had developed such that they could either be hanged together or separately.
As events evolved, however, and especially after the confirmation of charges against the two and their other ICC accused, a clear picture of what was really going on started to emerge. This came out during and after the so-called “prayer rallies” which in reality were nothing even close to a religious event. At the time, both Uhuru and Ruto were individually presenting themselves as presidential candidates.
Meanwhile, the Mudavadi project for ABR (Anyone But Raila) was underway.
There is little doubt in hindsight for many that both Uhuru and Ruto did not see Mudavadi as capable of being the project he was meant to be.
Uhuru, having been a project previously, had some experience to go with and obviously shared this with his protégé Ruto.
That being the case, the duo continued on their separate yet joined presidential quests, even as there was wrangling within the G7 group. Curiosity intensified several months later on November 27, 2012 when Uhuru and Ruto announced to the world that they’ll be teaming up to vie for the presidency and vice presidency.
There was little doubt in anyone’s mind who in that scenario will be the flag-bearer and who will play second fiddle. No one in their right mind would have thought that Uhuru would play second fiddle to Ruto.
This was confirmed on December 2, 2013 when the duo announced the formation of Jubilee alliance in which Uhuru was made the flag bearer and Ruto made his side-kick with an a MOU not worth the paper it’s written on whereby Uhuru (read Kikuyus) and Ruto (read Kalenjins) will share power on a 50-50 basis.
Upon what Uhuru said was a visit from the devil, Mudavadi was briefly brought into the equation as the flag-bearer of the Jubilee alliance but given only a promise of power sharing less than the ICC indictees had agreed to dole to him in making him their project.
It will take a book to analyse how naïve Mudavadi was in reaching such a deal.
Which leads to a key question: We know the crumbs Mudavadi was promised to join Jubilee; but what was Uhuru’s promise to Ruto to agree to not only join him, but to play second fiddle?
The answer must lie in the underlying issue that belies the ICC cases against Uhuru and Ruto and that’s land. Uhuru being the son of our first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, and notwithstanding the rap against him as not being that smart when it comes to politics must have been advised a band aid was put over the land issue in Rift Valley in the 1960s and 70s by appointing Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, a Kalenjin, as Vice President.
As long as he served in that position, all land issues in the region were relegated to the back-burner. Uhuru must have had the same strategy in mind and sold it to Ruto, essentially telling Ruto, I’ll make you deputy president and as president, I will return the lands taken away and give those most affected land elsewhere not even near Kalenjinland.
This is an offer Ruto could not refuse because, for one, it will be easy to sell in the area and secondly, it would make him deputy president much more easily—according to their calculation, than, say collaborating with Raila. It remains to be seen whether such a deal will ultimately work. But going by what we know already about Uhuru, keeping promises even when reduced to writing is not something he’s fond of.
Just as Uhuru discarded the MOU with Mudavadi, he will also discard any deal he has made with Ruto. This is an important fact our brothers and sisters from Rift Valley must understand. It’s as true as the sun rising from the east and setting in the west.
Uhuru used his experience as a project to dupe Mudavadi to sign a useless MOU. But Uhuru need not look further than his own father who used and dumbed Jaramogi when it was convenient to do so.
One must give Mzee Jomo credit for maintaining, to the end, that Jaramogi was his friend. He even said as much in Kisumu during the infamous incident when Kenyatta was pelted with stones. He declared he would have had Jaramogi arrested but for the friendship.
When it came to his turn, Kibaki shred to pieces his MOU with Raila after the 2002 elections. It will be Uhuru’s turn to shred any MOU with Ruto and by this history, one has to be in absolute total denial not to believe or see it coming.
To put all of this in context, a few things must be highlighted:
First if Uhuru were honest on this deal, he would have supported Ruto for president and let Ruto do the bidding for this type of land resettlement scheme in Rift Valley.
Second, given it’s obvious the deal between Uhuru and Ruto had nothing to do with resolving the historic land issues affecting their two communities, the next logical and only conclusion one must reach is that the deal has to and must do with the individual interests of the duo in connection with their ICC cases.
More specifically, the deal has to do with the two believing that by working together and in the unlikely event they are elected, they can thwart or altogether defy the ICC.
A lot has been written about what consequences will befall our country were this to turn out to be the case, namely, the duo is elected and they choose to defy the ICC. One thing can be said for certain, given their inevitable thinking: they could care less what the consequences are for they believe they can weather the storm.
After all, they’re individually well cushioned financially and were there to be any seepage of finances for the less well monied, the other one will bail him out. It’s a no brainer who pays the dear price for that and that’s the ordinary Kenyan who will suffer even more than they have in the past.
Finally, but not least, all one has to ask himself is, why has Eldoret Airport not been made fully functional?
We need a president who has to address issues affecting all Kenyans both ordinary and elite and that person is not Uhuru Kenyatta.
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