{UAH} Standard Digital News : : The Nairobian - Keter: DP Ruto is very selfish with â EURO ~honeyâ EURO (tm)
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Standard Digital News : : The Nairobian
Firebrand Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, is famed as a rabble-rouser who has been rocking the Jubilee coalition boat from within, with his stinging accusations that range from criticising the standard gauge railway to calling the Deputy President a leader 'drunk with power'. The Nairobiansought to understand his position on various issues.
In 2007, you vied for the Starehe parliamentary seat and lost the ODM nominations to Bishop Margaret Wanjiru. Why did you shift base to Nandi Hills?
Nandi is my home. I tried Nairobi then because I was in ODM, and my supporters, mostly the youth, since I was an ODM youth leader, urged me to run here.
The youth movement in Nairobi was so vibrant with my candidature. It was a youth agenda to take one of the then eight Nairobi constituencies.
There are claims that Alfred Keter is related to the great Nandi warrior chief Koitalel arap Samoei, an association previously reserved for Deputy President William Ruto. Your take?
The great Koitalel arap Samoei is buried in my constituency, and is a role model for most of us from the Rift Valley. He didn't go to any school, yet he could fight for the rights of the Nandi.
What he fought for was not accomplished since the Nandi people lost land. Today, 60 per cent of my constituency is occupied by British settlers. I am here to continue the struggle that Koitalel started and others after him like Jean-Marie Seroney, Chelagat Mutai and Bishop Alexander Muge continued with.
You recently used a tree analogy where you claimed Deputy President Ruto is high up on the tree of power eating honey without bringing any down for his people, and the only way to stop this is to cut down the tree. Explain.
We elected our brother William Kipchirchir Samoei Ruto because we trusted him, and all of us could not be Deputy President. But when he got there, he forgot there were other people.
He became selfish and started the principle of 'me, myself and I', which correlates with my story of the tree and the honey. He is taking his sweet time up there, while we are left shouting from down here, yet he seems not to hear us. Whether he has been stung by bees, or is busy eating, we don't know. So it's either we let him eat, or cut down the tree and bring him and the honey down.
If you are told to choose between the President and the Deputy President, who would you pick?
I have been working with the deputy president, and realised he is failing; unless I start engaging the President directly and I weigh how the two men conduct business... But I think the President can be better. When he said he was ready to dialogue (with the opposition) his deputy dismissed it, even based on that, you see one might easily go to the President.
The Deputy President does not listen, and he is quick to dismiss. He stopped reasoning when he was elected, and instead listens to his emotions and the sycophants around him.
Do you think the Deputy President is losing ground in his Rift Valley backyard?
He is not only losing ground, but also losing it at an alarming rate. I no longer worry about his losing ground, but I am worried at the speed at which he is doing it. But we are still friends since we were in ODM together. However, politically speaking, we are pulling apart at the moment.
Some people claim you have never spoken in Parliament. How true is that?
Let me tell you brother, we have a Parliament of more than three members, and in the current system, members do the bulk of their work at the committee level. You can go through the Hansard and see how many contributions Keter has made.
During the Motion on milk prices by Hon. Bett (Kesses MP James), I made a lot of contribution. Last year when we were discussing CS Kandie (Phyllis, East African Affairs) I made contributions when some people claimed she was too shy. That I don't talk in Parliament are just stories from our brother Duale (Leader of Majority Aden).
When President Uhuru was in Parliament, he was spotted on national television calling you to his side. What did he tell you?
He was telling me to embrace dialogue. One thing I like about our President is that he believes in consultation and dialogue, an element that our brother the Deputy President is lacking. You remember when the opposition called for national dialogue, the Deputy President was very quick to dismiss it, saying they lost the election.
There are reports in the press that you advised URP to ditch Jubilee for CORD?
We are in Jubilee to stay, and we will fight for our rights from within. We are going nowhere. The ruling coalition belongs to all Kenyans, and it's our duty to see it fulfill its promises. The reports that we are going to the opposition is total nonsense.
There have been rumours that Alfred Keter is a hired hand paid by some quarters to shout at political rallies.
Most of the issues that I raise are straight, and I don't need to be paid to raise. I talked about the Rugut (National Youth ServiceDirector General Kiplimo) issue when he was being sacked, and later on it was changed to a transfer after we raised political temperatures.
After dismissal of Rugut, the Chinese Premier was escorted by the Deputy President when he toured the NYS, which means he knew. And indeed he later confessed he was the one responsible for the removal of the NYS boss.
What is your take on the censure motion against Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru?
We support the motion. And most Jubilee members, both TNA and URP, are for it. We had more than 170 signatures two weeks ago, now they are more. Waiguru will go, you can take this to any bank. We will not waste time to debate about it when it comes on the floor.
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