Will Raila Odinga’s offer to testify for William Ruto win him support in Rift Valley?

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga (PHOTO: File)

What does the willingness by Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader Raila Odinga to testify for Deputy President William Ruto at the International Criminal Court (ICC) mean for his political ambitions in the Rift Valley?

Calls for Raila’s support in the ICC case against Ruto were first made two weeks ago by Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen. “We are asking the former Prime Minister to come to Ruto’s aid. The Deputy President was one of the pentagon members in the ODM party,” said Murkomen.

The unexpected but positive response by the CORD leader to appear in The Hague based court as part of Ruto’s defence has ignited an interesting political debate in the Rift Valley, a key political region he has had a love-hate relationship with. The vote-rich region, which voted for him overwhelmingly in the 2007 General Election, ditched him for Ruto’s Jubilee alliance in the 2013 polls.

Political millage

The Standard on Sunday has learned that prior to the public calls, MPs close to Ruto had privately asked Raila to support the Deputy President in his ICC case. “They approached the former Prime Minister privately and asked him to intervene, and the CORD leader agreed and assured them he had always been willing to help Ruto,” said an ODM MP who was in the meeting.

The MP’s sentiments were echoed by North Rift legislators who also requested the Opposition to join them in pushing for Kenya’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute that created the ICC.

The legislators, led by Murkomen and Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, said they had agreed to pass a motion that seeks to pull Kenya out of ICC. “We want our brothers in the Opposition to support us as we exhaust every avenue available to pull Kenya out of the Rome Statute,” said Murkomen.

Junet Mohamed, the Suna East MP and a close ally of Raila, said the CORD leader will testify for Ruto as a matter of conviction, not for political millage. He said ODM will spare no effort to defend its former party member at The Hague based court.

“Raila has no personal problem with Ruto, but sadly, those dining with the Deputy President are the ones who took him that far in the ditch. Our party leader cares for his former lieutenant and he is willing to come to his aid,” said Junet.

The MP said allegations that the former Prime Minister had a hand in the ICC cases had been dispelled by Ruto’s lawyer Karim Khan, who told the court that the Deputy President was fixed by national security operatives. Khan named former Internal Security Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo and Presidential Political Adviser Nancy Gitau among them.

Busy bodies

Junet asked Ruto to dump “busy bodies” pretending to be speaking for him on the ICC cases.

“This is a personal matter that needs to be divorced from politics. He should welcome genuine help from any quarter,” he said. “We want the Deputy President to be released unconditionally because we believe he is innocent and did nothing and should therefore be set free,” said Junet.

Kalenjin Council of Elders Chair Major (rtd) John Seii welcomed Raila’s willingness to testify for Ruto, saying it will help the community. “Anybody who is for us and wants to help us win this case, we are with that person,” said Major Seii.

But Bomet East MP Benard Bett believes the CORD leader is trying to take advantage of a case that is almost collapsing. “Where was he when the case started? The case will collapse if he testifies or not because Ruto is innocent,” he said.