Jubilee: 'Vote merger part of CORD's 2017 plan'

 

Jubilee leaders have said plans to merge CORD’s Okoa Kenya with the governors’ Pesa Mashinani is proof that the referendum is part of the Opposition’s 2017 game plan.

Led by Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, the leaders said it was now clear that the governors’ and CORD’s referendum initiatives were all along one and the same.

Murkomen and eight MPs from the ruling coalition claimed Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, who has been spearheading the governors’ referendum push, was angling to be CORD leader Raila Odinga’s running mate in 2017.

Murkomen said the referendum quest was aimed at making the CORD leader and other leaders who lost in the last elections politically relevant. The MPs turned heat on the Bomet governor, accusing him of disrespecting Deputy President William Ruto and dividing the Kalenjin community. “We knew that CORD and Pesa Mashinani were one and the same thing right from the start but we are telling Ruto to follow the pecking order in the community and recognise that the Deputy President is destined for State House,” Murkomen said. 

RUTO’S RECORD

Kericho Senator Charles Keter hinted that Jubilee parties could merge ahead of the 2017 elections and approach the polls as a single party. “There will be no problem if we merge and form a single formidable party whose presence will be felt countrywide,” he said.

Chepalungu MP Paul Savimbi alleged the Bomet governor’s development record while he served as the area MP was wanting.

The MPs were speaking at Mau Summit in Nakuru during a funds drive in aid of different churches. They said the planned merger of the two referendums could not revive the declining popularity of the drive.

“Ruto wants to be Raila’s running mate in 2017 and as we have been saying, the driver of the referendum bus is Raila while the Bomet governor is the conductor. Pesa Mashinani and Okoa Kenya are one and the same thing,” Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga said.

Nakuru Deputy Governor Joseph Ruto said Ruto should be contented with his position as a governor  and stop undermining the Deputy President. “As Nakuru County, we were the first to reject the referendum and our position remains the same. We have no time for it as Kenyans are busy building the country,” he said. Others in attendance were area MP Moses Cheboi, Stephen Bitok (Mosop) and nominated Senator Liz Chelule.