Disgruntled URP politicians are set to meet and weigh their options in their engagement with TNA
Disgruntled URP politicians are set to meet and weigh their options in their engagement with TNA counterparts in the Jubilee coalition.
Led by Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, the leaders say much as they are still giving Deputy President William Ruto time to agree to discuss ‘the mistreatment’ they have not run out of choices.
“The people can never be helpless, and again who tells the Deputy President that he holds the magic and exclusive sway over the people? We have an array of recourses, and he should know that our patience is waning,” he toldSunday Nation.
The governor suggested that together with other leaders from the region, they willl be consulting with their supporters before revealing what their next move will be.
He accused President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy of disregarding the pre-election pact between TNA and URP on sharing of projects and jobs.
“We are not sure if they are following the agreement signed before elections. Immediately they were sworn into office, it became a two-man show,” he said. He warned the duo that they will only have themselves to blame if they fail to listen to the dissenting voices.
The kingpin of Rift Valley politics is experiencing one of the most challenging moments of his political life as a simmering rebellion within his base is a matter of great concern to him.
The criticism of the DP from a section of leaders is hinged on the perception that he is getting a raw deal in the ruling Jubilee coalition that brought his URP party and President Kenyatta’s TNA together. They are wondering why he is not coming out to protest this.
The Bomet governor and Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter have stood out as the harshest critics of the DP, and although they initially appeared to be acting as lone rangers, the duo is fast getting support from other leaders in the region.
The governor says the region is asking legitimate questions, that the President and his deputy are “arrogantly ignoring”. “When we ask questions about Kiplimo Rugut, we need clear answers. When the DP comes out and takes responsibility for his sacking, we are shocked,” said the governor.
Mr Rugut’s transfer from the National Youth Service where he was the director general has handed a section of the Rift Valley politicians a base from which to launch attacks on the coalition. Mr Rugut was replaced by Dr Nelson Githinji.
The Bomet governor wants the deputy president to listen to the ‘voice of the people’ and warns that the region is unhappy with the government.
“We are being kicked out of plum jobs to make way for other people,” Mr Keter told Sunday Nation.
But Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, an ally of the Deputy President, downplayed the rebellion.
“What these people are doing under their captain Governor Ruto is to peddle falsehood. Remember lies travel faster than truths, but when the truth finally arrives, the people will realise that it was their interests that were being addressed,” he said.
The experience the Deputy President faces mirrors the political stages former Prime Minister Raila Odinga went through 10 years ago in the young days of the Kibaki administrations.
They have all been kingmakers in their lives. Mr Odinga made Mr Mwai Kibaki president with his “Kibaki Tosha” declaration in 2002, and last year, Mr Ruto’s support sent Uhuru Kenyatta to State House.
The life of Mr Ruto parallels that of Mr Odinga in so many ways, both while he was in the Narc government between 2002 and 2005, before he was sacked by President Kibaki, as well as in the coalition government where he was the premier.
The same way Mr Odinga stormed out of Kanu after a brief sojourn is not any different from Mr Ruto’s acrimonious exit from Mr Odinga’s ODM in the run-up to the last election.
While in the same ODM wing of government, Mr Ruto led an onslaught on Raila accusing him of giving the Kalenjin community fewer Cabinet slots than had been agreed on. Although it may be a bit of a stretch, analysts say this is comparable to what leaders from the DP’s backyard call a “targeted purge" on civil servants from the region.
Appointments of parastatal chiefs and permanent secretaries sealed the fate of the fluid relationship as Mr Odinga’s LDP cried foul. He had earlier accused Mr Kibaki of reneging on a memorandum of understanding which was said to have stipulated that Mr Odinga would be made Prime Minister.
Mr Ruto’s decision to down-play Mr Rugut’s saga is also similar to Mr Odinga’s first reaction to cries of his lieutenants that he was not being involved in key decision-making in the coalition government. Later on, Mr Odinga acknowledged he had been short-changed.
Political scientist Adams Oloo said the Jubilee government could be the victim of what he described as a vicious cycle of rumours.
“The rumour is that the real deal between the two is working well; what is not working well is the other deal between the two for the Kalenjin community, and this could be the origin of the simmering tension within Jubilee,” he said.
SIGNIFICANT SIMILARITIES
Dr Oloo agreed the DP’s life in politics has significant similarities with Mr Odinga’s.
“A number of similarities are seen in the two individuals although not all through. Different from Mr Ruto and save for the forced political marriage with President Kibaki in 2008, Mr Odinga has never been in power, but both the DP’s community and President Kenyatta’s have and know what being short-changed means,” he said, all the more reason the Jubilee government is likely to have more problems.
“In such an arrangement there is trouble when you only give a rump to the other partner and enjoy the rest of the kill; they will know it.”
It also explains why Mr Ruto had many problems with Mr Odinga in the ODM wing of the coalition government; Oloo said “it was hard to satisfy him”.
Dr Oloo thinks the DP made a fatal mistake surrounding himself with inexperienced political advisors.
“Ruto’s problems begin when instead of going for experienced politicians in URP like Zakayo Cheruiyot and Isaac Ruto, he chose greenhorns like Senator Kipchumba Murkomen who instead of advising him, see him more as their boss. They cannot stand up to him and correct him without minding if he takes offence like some of these old hands would,” Dr Oloo said.
He said Mr Ruto’s advisors are fairly lightweight compared to President Kenyatta’s.
He said Mr Ruto’s advisors are fairly lightweight compared to President Kenyatta’s.
This is not different from Mr Odinga whose team could not match that of President Kibaki. Mr Odinga’s one-time advisor on coalition matters Miguna Miguna later admitted that his boss was always outwitted by Mr Kibaki.
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