DP William Ruto orders arrest of suspects fanning ethnic conflicts

Deputy president William Ruto[left hands over his donations of sh one million and another one million for the president Uhuru kenyatta at Nyabururu catholic church in aid of the church construction and development on this photos taken on 23 Oct 2016.

Deputy President William Ruto has directed the immediate arrest and prosecution of individuals fuelling clashes between the Kisii and Kipsigis communities.

The clashes have left one person dead, eight others injured and several houses burnt at Ikorongo.

The DP said a whole community could not be accused of cattle rustling, adding that security agents would arrest criminals from either of the two communities.

Mr Ruto spoke after attending Sunday Mass at Nyabururu Catholic Parish in Kitutu Chache South constituency, Kisii County, yesterday.

"All those individuals must be arrested immediately. We will not allow foolish people and thieves to determine how we relate as communities. These are stupid individuals," said an agitated Ruto.

He said the country's leaders were dealing with other matters and would not spend more time dealing with individuals who continued with the primitive culture of cattle rustling.

Kisii Governor James Ongwae, who visited the victims, among them two Administration Police officers, said the Interior ministry should deploy non-partisan officers to the region.

"Let the police be warned of bias in quelling the tension. Officers drawn from the affected communities should not be deployed to contain the fighting," said Mr Ongwae.

Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital CEO Enock Ondari confirmed that one victim had been brought to the hospital with an arrow in his thigh.

Residents in four constituencies - Nyaribari Masaba (Kisii County), Borabu (Nyamira County), Sotik (Bomet County) and Emurrua Dikirr in Narok County have been affected by the attacks.

On development, the DP said every woman should give birth in hospital to guarantee the lives of the newborn and the mother.

"We want dignified childbirth for our mothers. The Linda Mama Programme is designed to enroll mothers under the NHIF scheme to cater for maternal health and the first year of life for the child. This will reduce infant and maternal mortality greatly," he said.

SUPPORT JUBILEE

Ruto called on the Kisii community to support the Jubilee government, urging them not to repeat the 2013 'mistake'.

"In 2013 through God's grace, we formed the Government. We are working closely with political leaders to move together," said Ruto.

He announced that through the Last Mile electric power connectivity project, the Government had connected 45,000 households to the national grid in Kisii.

Present at the event were Senator Chris Obure, Deputy Governor Joash Maangi, MPs Richard Onyonka (Kitutu Chache South), Jimmy Angwenyi (Kitutu Chache North), Richard Tongi (Nyaribari Chache), Stephen Manoti (Bobasi) and Zebedeo Opore (Bonchari).

"I began the journey three years ago and people thought I was crazy. Our support for the government is unstoppable. Most of the development projects we have achieved in this region have come through our close working relationship with the Jubilee government," said Mr Maangi.

Mr Obure said his people had asked him to vacate his position as the ODM chairman Kisii branch and join the government.

Meanwhile, Ruto skipped a funds drive he was scheduled to officiate in Kisumu County after his office said he had a tight schedule.

The DP was expected to preside over a fundraiser to help revive a cotton co-operative society in Chiga, Kisumu East constituency, but instead sent a Sh1 million donation through Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett. The DP was to be hosted by nominated Senator Joy Gwendo.

Mr Bett, who was joined by former Cabinet minister Raphael Tuju and Karachuonyo MP James Rege, said Ruto was to attend the event but got held up in pressing national assignments.

Mr Tuju told Kisumu residents to play politics of tolerance to enable democracy to thrive in the region.

Ms Gwendo, a Jubilee party stalwart, urged residents to embrace cotton growing to combat hunger and poverty.