{UAH} Pojim/WBK: Uhuru tour shows why ‘sour allies’ should root for peace - Politics | Daily Nation

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Uhuru tour shows why 'sour allies' should root for peace - Politics

The photo of Kericho governor Paul Chepkwony testifying at the International Criminal Court was used prominently in local newspapers.

And thousands of Kenyans watched him on television in the ICC witness box fighting for a friend at a time many would not have dared to do so.

Prof Chepkwony was in the ICC, the first witness of Deputy President William Ruto in his crimes against humanity case during the confirmation of charges hearings. 

His colleague, Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, has not stepped inside the court, but he has certainly led a choir of MPs singing the Kenyan national anthem in solidarity with the Deputy President at The Hague.

On the ICC issue, the two governors had staked their careers on the Deputy President.

While Prof Chepkwony stood witness for the DP, the Bomet governor not only tabled a motion in Parliament seeking Kenya's withdrawal from the Rome Statute but rallied national propaganda against the court.

A close ally of the Deputy President, the governor was his namesake's fiercest defenders, seemingly ready to take the bullet for him.

Isaac was to the Deputy President what Majority Leader Aden Duale is to him today. In President Kenyatta's corner was former Ndaragua MP Jeremiah Kioni before they fell out a few out months to the election.

A good debater with good mastery of House standing orders and an acerbic tongue in political rallies, the former YK'92 lobbyist's acumen came in handy for Mr Ruto in the last Parliament and presidential campaign.

And he did the hatchet work with utmost delight, though he denies it, saying he has always been his own man.

Those who have worked with Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto say he is very useful when he is fighting in your corner but can be extremely annoying when opposing you.

To use the words of former UN boss Kofi Annan, you would rather have the Bomet man in the tent pissing out, than outside pissing in.

In a dramatic twist in their relationship, the two governors from the vote-rich South Rift are now leading a rebellion which threatens the Deputy President's grip on the Kalenjin nation whose vote he used to bargain for a power-sharing agreement with President Kenyatta.

An angry President Kenyatta sought to intervene for his deputy in the matter during a rally in Bomet last weekend, but the response from the governor a day after the visit appeared to muddy the waters even more. Opinion is divided on whether the President succeeded in his mission.

"It is a case of the kingmaker turning against the king. Mr Ruto used the governor to fight Raila Odinga during the coalition government. Now the governor is using the same tactics against him," said Father Ambrose Kimutai of Kericho.

The priest argues that the Jubilee coalition rode to power on a crest of lies and false propaganda, especially the claim that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga had engineered the ICC proceedings against them.

There was also the matter of the Mau Forest in which Mr Odinga was projected as a persecutor of the Kalenjin community. In all this, Governor Ruto was a key propagandist.

According to Fr Kimutai of Siegemik Parish, the Deputy President cannot afford to ignore the governor.

"William made his bed and he must be ready to lie in it. He knows Isaac's potential, having used him before to spoil for Mr Odinga. The governor can use the same tactics to do a Raila on him," argued the priest.

The two governors come from the Kipsigis community, the largest Kalenjin subgroup. In their war with Mr Ruto, whom they accuse of dictatorship, arrogance and of being an impediment to devolution, the two governors are supported by Kuresoi MP Zakayo Cheruiyot.

The overriding theory is that the governor's intention is to consolidate the Kipsigis vote and use it to bargain in 2017.

In that case, he will be a king maker by forcing the Deputy President or Mr Odinga, the opposition leader into a pact. Mr Ruto is also working with Baringo Senator Gideon Moi and the disgruntled Stephen ole Ntutu of Narok.

Former Cabinet minister Franklin Bett, however, disagrees that the DP is losing ground in the Rift Valley. He said Mr Ruto was actually gaining confidence with wananchi.

"A croaking frog wouldn't stop a cow from drinking water. So far, the political activities of both Governor Ruto and Senator Moi do not warrant any stress for DP Ruto. The Rift Valley is still William Ruto, and my friends should know that," Mr Bett says.

Addressing a press conference in Bomet after the President's visit during which he was reprimanded as the DP rallied Kalenjins to join Jubilee Alliance Party, the governor rejected the idea and threw a jab at his bosses.

"Bomet is not Kabete where 'Baba Yao'(Ferdinand Waititu) won the seat on a JAP ticket. If the DP thinks he can parachute the same notion to change the political tide in the South Rift, then the writing is on the wall for him. He must also embrace consultative leadership, just as the President called on all leaders to  do," he said.

In a television debate, Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen dismissed the governor.

"Kalenjins have decided that they will support President Kenyatta in the next election and his running mate will be William Ruto," said Mr Murkommen, who thinks the President's tour of Bomet was successful.

He also believes that the rebellion was a creation of the media and therefore unlikely to injure the Deputy President's fortunes.

"President Kenyatta is more popular than Governor Ruto in Bomet. He does not need the governor to propagate his agenda in the South Rift," argues the senator.

In a conversation with Sunday Nation, former Subukia MP Koigi wa Wamwere observed that the Jubilee duo was following the Kenyatta-Moi script.

"When some Kalenjin politicians such as Marie Seroney rose up against Moi,  Jomo Kenyatta defended his deputy. That is what his son is doing for Mr Ruto"

Mr Wamwere predicts that having failed to crush the Chepkwony-Ruto axis, the two governors will be increasingly isolated in the future.

In Kalenjin politics, the rabble rouser from Bomet has been nicknamed Atiech I? — Kipsigis for "spoiler".

In the last Parliament, he was cheered on by politicians from his region as he "spoiled" for Mr Odinga to Mr Ruto's advantage.

The former Chepalungu MP was very instrumental in forcing the exodus of Kalenjin from Mr Odinga's ODM and the demonisation of the former Prime Minister over ICC.

While tabling the motion on December 22, 2010, for Kenya to cut ties with the ICC after Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta had been named in connection with the post-election violence, the Chepalungu politician suggested that the case was engineered to lock the two Jubilee leaders out of the presidential race.

This effectively galvanised their communities against Mr Odinga, who was packaged as the common enemy.

According Dr Adams Oloo, a political science lecturer at the University of Nairobi, the President should have argued his case in the South Rift without appearing to bid for his deputy.

Says Dr Oloo. "The governor's response was meant to send a message that taking JAP to the South Rift will not be a walk in the park."

The political scientist argues that the major challenge with the Deputy President is that he has not "subdued and controlled" his lieutenants who are now fomenting rebellion.

"He has not graduated into a political giant like Moi or Raila. Instead of taking the likes of Isaac and Zakayo as advisers, the DP relies on greenhorns such as Murkommen," observed Dr Oloo.

Moreover, Fr Kimutai and Dr Oloo say   the Deputy President would have to change the message for the next election from Mr Odinga, the ICC and the Mau. "Mr Ruto promised to resettle the Mau families, but he is not pushing for their removal. There is disappointment that he is doing the same thing he accused Mr Odinga of," says Fr Kimutai. "He would have to shop for another lie."

Fr Kimutai thinks the Isaac Ruto group could exploit the discontent over the Mau and the plight of maize farmers to deflate the Deputy President. He also says the frequent mention of Mr Ruto's name in corruption scandals could hurt his reputation and make it difficult for his people to defend him.

In the last election, Governor Ruto was among Jubilee coalition members who sold the idea that Mr Odinga had engineered The  Hague cases.

"We are yet to hear a witness saying he was sent there by Raila. The Jubilee coalition should apologise for their lies," says Fr Kimutai.

However, a meeting between Mr Odinga and the Bomet Governor on Wednesday could open another battlefront.

Uhuru tour shows why 'sour allies' should root for peace - Politics | Daily Nation
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