I’m loyal to ideas, not personalities, says Ruto

I’m loyal to ideas, not personalities, says Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto Updated Saturday, August 10th 2013 at 22:57 GMT +3

Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto appears to have a keen friendship with controversy. Lately, he has been accused of hitting the Jubilee government below the belt over the rollout of devolution, earning himself condemnation from URP loyalists in Rift Valley. But the governor has no regrets, saying his passion for devolution is second to none. He spoke to The Standard on Sunday writer FAITH RONOH on a wide range of issues.

What informs your passionate fight to safeguard devolution?

I have believed in devolution ever since even before I joined politics. At that time, politicians were only thinking of grabbing power at the national level. I used to tell them that what was important was the empowerment of Kenyans at the grassroots.

I have been influenced by classical thinkers in my fight for devolution. Money should be used at county level if development projects are to be felt by Kenyan citizens. This country does not belong to the high and mighty only because citizens living in poverty have many problems to contend with. A large percentage of Kenyans supports devolution right now, so it is not my agenda or anyone else’s agenda. The failure or success of devolution greatly lies on the Jubilee government.

Are you still pushing for a referendum to safeguard devolution?

Indeed we are going on with the push for areferendum. We will be meeting with the Senate on August 12 to look at the draft amendments and we will also meet with all governors, senators and Speakers of the county governments in the course of next week to discuss the proposals. If we find consensus, then we will draft the amendments. On August 31 we will meet all MPs who support thereferendum and members of the county assembly to discuss the way forward.

What is your reaction to threat by Jubilee MPs to cut you to size and impeach you following your decision to hit central government below the belt on devolution?

A governor cannot be impeached through whimsical actions by members of the county assembly or MPs. There is a procedure set in the Constitution and expulsion of a governor from a party does not remove him from office. Anybody who wants to expel me from URP wants to expel the brainchild behind the formation of the party. We started URP as four members, these other MPs joined the party the other day, and do not understand the party manifesto so I wonder how they will expel me. Have you heard them talk about that again? They talked about it only once and gave up.

Are you trying to emerge as Rift Valley political kingpin? Is there a fight to control Rift Valley?

No. What I am trying to do right is ensuring that devolution is implemented. I have no other ambition other than performing well this first five years as Bomet Governor then ask the people to elect me for the next term. The term of a governor is 10 years so if I was thinking of going for a higher seat, then that would not be 2017. Kalenjin politics is consensus-based and that is one thing that many people fail to understand. Our people do not have an idea of what kingpins are because there is no one single person who makes decisions in the Kalenjin community. Issues are always discussed and a consensus reached. Right now, I want devolution to take root so that we can grow the economy. The push for constitutional amendment to safeguard 45 per cent of resources to be used under devolved systems will allow counties to tarmac all the roads in five years. Also, we have markets for our produce but we do not have adequate infrastructure to access them. Money cannot be used for investment purposes at one centre, for instance in Nairobi. If that happens, we will be draining our wealth to other countries but if you saturate wealth nationally, money will flow to neighbouring counties.

What is your relationship with the Deputy President William Ruto?

My relationship with him has been very good. We started politics together way back. I have my opinion and he has his but usually, we find a way of accommodating each other. Many people think that when I fight for a certain issue, we are falling apart with Ruto. Maybe the relationship between us is different from his relationship with other politicians who feel they must depend on him for political survival. Personally, I am not loyal to anyone. I am only loyal to issues that affect common mwananchi. This explains why I occasionally had issues with former President Daniel Moi but even so, I supported him fully. Throughout the last Parliament, we used to meet with Ruto and other MPs from the Kalenjin community to discuss the way forward. He advises me when I am wrong and I do the same when I feel that he is not doing the right thing. Ruto is a colleague, a leader and I respect his brand of politics but that doesn’t mean we accept anyone to dictate us on issues that are not right.

The same MPs claim you have been offered a position as former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s running mate in 2017. What do you have to say?

I disagreed with Raila on a number of issues. In fact, I was the first one to move out of ODM. We have not held talks with Raila since then but these suspicions came up when I recently visited Homa Bay. My disagreement with Raila doesn’t mean that I crossed paths with the entire Luo community. I have even been working with ODM leaders in very many national issues especially now in the push fordevolution. It is quite absurd that these MPs would associate this with me being offered a position to run as Raila’s running mate. I have no issue with the former premier and I also believe that no one should harass him because he is a senior leader.

Is it true that the Deputy President met Bomet members of County Assembly to undermine you?

No. I called him and he confirmed that he did not meet with them. I believe him. In fact, he made it clear that such a meeting never took place.

What are your long-term political ambitions?

I cannot tell my long-term plans politically as at now but I believe I will make a decision when the time comes. Right now, my agenda is to serve the people of Bomet and show them that I can do something significant.

In brief, who is Isaac Ruto?

I was born and brought up in Tumoi village, Bomet County. As a politician, I stand for the truth. The important thing in politics is to tell it as it is. When I joined politics, my parents who are evangelists, were against the idea. However, I promised them that I would serve the people who elected me. That has been my guiding principle as a politician ever since.