Cyrus Jirongo forays into William Ruto turf with calls for DP to dump Uhuru Kenyatta

Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi (centre), former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo (right) and former Wareng County Chairman PaulnKiprop during a fund raiser in aid of Kiluka AIC Church in Ainabkoi Constituency, Uasin Gishu County, last week. Jirongo has conducted three fundraisers in Uasin Gishu County this month. [Photo: File/Standard]

The latest political forays by Deputy President William Ruto’s long time ally and United Democratic Party leader Cyrus Jirongo into North Rift has raised eyebrows even as talk of an impending western alliance keep emerging.

Jirongo, a former Lugari MP, has in a month held three fundraising events in Uasin Gishu County flanked by local MPs in what could signify an emerging rosy political union.

This comes at a time when the relationship between the DP’s United Republican Party (URP) and President Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance Party (TNA) continues to sour over the Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang’s International Criminals Court (ICC) case-fixing debate.

Jirongo is a long time ally of the DP, dating back to the infamous Youth for Kanu (YK’ 92) lobby where the former was the chair and  Ruto the organising secretary.

Close friend

Both made entries into Parliament in 1997, winning their seats using the same campaign slogan, ‘Ukweli wa Mambo’. Interestingly, Ruto’s former Eldoret North Constituency and Jirongo’s former Lugari Constituency was separated by a river and the Uganda Railway.

But Jirongo’s latest visits to the North Rift has raised eyebrows and generated debate on whether he has the blessings of the Deputy President. “Kalenjins are my neighbours and I have worked with William (Ruto) since we both joined politics in the early 90s. He remains my close friend,” said Jirongo.

In his visits to Ruto’s home county of Uasin Gishu, the former Lugari MP has consistently hit out at President Uhuru Kenyatta for “doing nothing” to help Ruto out of the ICC ordeal.

“President Kenyatta is not being honest, he is actually doing nothing to help Ruto out of the jaws of the ICC. Hii ni ndoa ya mateso (This marriage is full of suffering). Kenyatta is not genuinely concerned about his deputy,” said Jirongo.

During a fundraising meeting in aid of Nandet ACK Church, Kesses Constituency, Jirongo was accompanied by Ruto’s close allies: prominent businessman David Lang’at, former County Council of Wareng chairman Paul Kiprop, entrepreneur Gilbert Tenai and former Eldoret North CDF chairman Isaac Maiyo.

Yet his trips to the North Rift have served to show a greater rift between Jubilee’s two main parties. Although Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno told Jirongo the community was still reviewing its political affiliations, other leaders openly revealed that it will not be business as usual between TNA and URP as 2017 approaches.

 “We cannot continue to talk of 2017 and 2022 when, as a community, we are laden with the ICC burden. TNA should forget about 2017 until Ruto and Sang’s cases are terminated,” said Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi.

Sudi said they have asked URP politicians not to discuss 2017-22 politics until Ruto is free of the ICC yoke. “We should suspend any talk about future political alliances until that time the DP is free from the ICC burden,” he said.

“Why should we talk about 2017 when we have a bigger problem now at the ICC? This is no time for politics,” added Samuel Chepkong’a, the MP for Ainabkoi

Outspoken Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter was more vocal, insisting that TNA was using the ICC cases as a bait to win URP’s continued support for the Jubilee administration.

Continued alliance

“When marshalling for signatures to impeach Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru, they warned us that they will not help us in the Ruto-Sang cases. This made it clear that they know why our brothers (Ruto and Sang) are there,” Keter said.

The MP agreed with Sudi that the debate about a continued alliance with TNA when Ruto and Sang still had cases at the ICC should be suspended.

“They are not interested in the fate of our brothers. They are now busy scheming on how they will win the next elections but we will not have any political agreements until the two cases are terminated,” said Keter.

He said TNA has arm-twisted URP MPs on several occasions using the Ruto sang ICC case.

“Our coalition partners continue to arm-twist us using the DP’s case, and we are saying enough is enough. We cannot continue to be intimidated,” he said.

In an interview with The Standard on Sunday, Jirongo likened the URP wing of the Jubilee coalition to cooks preparing the broth for the bosses (TNA) to enjoy.

“If we in the western region are watchmen, then those in URP are cooks. They just prepare meals for others to feast on as they eat the crumbs. They need to know that we have an opportunity to form the government with them (URP) under the western alliance,” said Jirongo.

Speaking at Kiluka AIC Church in Uasin Gishu County during a fundraiser, Jirongo claimed there were people hoping that the DP is locked at the ICC to advance their political careers.

He accused President Kenyatta’s inner circle, saying “only the President has the keys to free Ruto and Sang.”

“The Uhuru camp should stop this hypocrisy. The President has access to all intelligence reports that can be used to rescue the two from ICC,” Jirongo said.