Deputy President William Ruto meets Rift Valley legislators amid murmurs of declining support

Over 50 legislators from Rift Valley on Thursday evening met with Deputy President William Ruto at a Nairobi hotel in move aimed at consolidating the region’s voting bloc.

The meeting comes in the backdrop of serious concerns among leaders that the DP is not in touch with the leaders and is slowly losing grip at the grassroots after Governor Isaac Ruto (Bomet), Senator Stephen Ole Ntutu (Narok) and some MPs openly rebelled against him.

To stem the tension, Ruto will today address public rallies in Marakwet East. It is the same area that Kanu chairman and Baringo Senator Gideon Moi visited a month ago and addressed a rally at Kalya Primary School in Marakwet East during a funds drive.

Markwet East MP Kangogo Bowen said the DP will be inspecting development projects.

“We will host the Deputy President tomorrow (today) at Moror Primary school and later at Sambalat Primry,” said Bowen.

The MPs allied to the DP have downplayed any concerns, affirming that the DP is firmly in control of the Rift.

Governor Ruto alongside other Rift MPs have publicly defied the DP and the United Republican Party (URP) on whose ticket they were elected. This rebellion has seen the party leadership crack the whip on nine nominated Members of the County Assembly (MCAs).

The Thursday meeting, according to insiders, was to reassure the leaders of the government’s support following numerous complains that the region is being side lined.

The legislators present, who spoke to The Standard on Saturday, termed it a ‘routine meeting’.

They confirmed that a number of crucial issues were addressed including status report on International Criminal Crime case at The Hague, security, Mau evictions, embargo on land ownership in Narok and parastatal appointments.

Full support

Though the DP has been on a war path with some leaders who have dismissed his leadership style as dictatorial, members from both the National Assembly and the Senate at the meeting, which lasted over four hours, affirmed their support for him.

“We will stick with the DP till 2017. Those who have lost track will go nowhere. The DP is a force which cannot be wished away,” said an MP who declined to be named.

Some URP MPs like Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills) skipped the gathering. However, when contacted, Keter said he was unwell. At the meeting, his ally Johanna Ngeno (Emupua Dikirr) explained his reasons for going contrary to the party’s decisions.

The MPs denied discussing the conduct of some elected leaders, only stressing that those were non-issues.

“We routinely hold meetings as leaders from Rift Valley. Our meeting with the DP was not extra ordinary. I requested the DP to meet us since we are proceeding on a long recess to review issues affecting the region,” said William Kisang (Marakwet West), who is the vice chairman of the URP parliamentary group caucus.

Bernard Bett (Bomet East) also admitted that MPs raised a number of issues, majority of them discussed in their routine meetings.

“We sought a clear status update on the progress of the ICC case. We are concern over this matter since some other cases have been dropped. We deliberated on national issues,” said Bett.

Bett dismissed claims that the leaders were disappointed with the recent parastatal appointments, saying: “I can confirm that during our meeting we only commended the government on these appointments.”

On Mau, he said: “The Mau issue featured in our meeting. We sought to know if the government is implementing the agreed guidelines for a seamless eviction. The leaders, forest officials and locals accepted these guidelines. We are only interested in ensuring the guidelines are observed.”

The MPs further backed the party’s move to expel nine nominated Bomet MCAs.

But Governor Ruto has termed the expulsion of the nine nominated MCAs as a breach of  law and an act of dictatorship. He dared the DP and his allies to make good their threat to have him impeached and kicked out of the party.

“Of the 25 elected MCAs only five were loyal to the DP,” said Ruto.

Ruto said the MCAs will seek redress at the Political Parties Dispute Resolution Tribunal.

He added, “My alliance with Baringo Senator Gideon Moi should not be seen as an indication that I have ditched URP and re-joined Kanu. As leaders, we have a duty to address issues facing our people. I will not shy away from cooperating with people who want to improve the lives of our people,” said Ruto.

—Additional reporting by Kibiwott Koros