Deputy President William Ruto meets warring Narok leaders in last minute fire-fighting bid

Deputy President William Ruto Saturday held two separate meetings with warring factions from Narok County in an attempt to solve the crisis that has rocked the county.

The meeting came even as a section of Narok County leaders opposed to Governor Samuel Tunai accused the DP of having vested interests in the conflicts that have rocked the county.

Yesterday morning, the DP hosted a group of the county's leaders led by Senator Stephen Ole Ntutu at his home in Karen. In the afternoon, he hosted the group led by Governor Tunai.

"The DP met the leaders in an attempt to find a middle ground over the conflicts that have rocked the county," said Mr Emmanuel Talam, the Deputy Director of Communications in Ruto's office.

The Ntutu group arrived at Ruto's Karen home at 10am and left at around 2pm. The Tunai group came in thereafter and held a meeting which lasted until 6.30pm.

"The leaders agreed to have a joint meeting next week to deliberate on the issues that were raised. The exact day will be confirmed later," said Mr Talam.

We could neither reach Senator Ntutu nor Governor Tunai for comment by the time we went to press. But two MPs in Ntutu's camp denied knowledge of such a meeting.

Narok West MP Patrick Ntutu, who is the senator's younger brother and Narok North MP Moitalel Ole Kenta, said the meeting did not take place.

"I was with the senator the whole day today (yesterday) and anyone telling you he went for any such meeting is lying. Ask him why," said Ole Kenta.

Separately, former Transport Licensing Board Hassan Ole Kamwaro, a member of the Maasai Council of Elders, claimed the DP was meddling in Narok County affairs for financial and political reasons.

"Why else would he come here every week? We are not in any sort of crisis. He already knows we voted for Jubilee overwhelmingly. Why would he want to behave like a Narok MCA to be here every other week," Ole Kamwaro told The Standard on Sunday on Friday in an interview in Narok.
In their petition to Tunai, the leaders opposed to him allege that the governor and a senior politician in Jubilee have an interest in a company that won the tender to collect gate fees from the Maasai Mara Game Reserve.

However, Narok West MP Patrick Ole Ntutu said they have no problem with the President or the Deputy President. "The blame lies squarely on the shoulders of Tunai."

The DP also denied Mr Kamwaro's allegations. "Contrary to the wild allegations, the DP is leading efforts to reconcile the rival groups engaged in unnecessary conflict in Narok County. The DP stands for the peaceful coexistence of communities in the country," said Mr Talam.

On Wednesday, five Narok leaders were arrested for leading a demonstration against Governor Tunai, which had been banned by Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaiserry.

Apart from Senator Ntutu, Ole Kenta and Patrick Ntutu, the Narok Noth MP, others were MPs Johanna Ngeno (Emurua Dikirr) and Korei Lemein (Narok South).

The legislators were detained overnight at Muthaiga Police Station and were presented in court on Thursday although they were not charged.

They were released on a personal bond of Sh500,000.
There will be a prayer meeting today in Narok Town to welcome back the legislators and also pray for the victims of the violence. The burial of the sole victim of the clashes will take place on Monday.

In a statement sent to newsrooms yesterday evening, Governor Tunai suggested that he will not attend the meeting and appeared to condemn them instead.

"Presently, I am fully aware of the events planned by the other section of leaders throughout the weekend, the week ahead and the days that follow, events and intentions which may not further the cause of cohesiveness and solid brotherhood. It would be unmindful of those leaders to strive to eke out political mileage in a situation that demands sobriety and fair-mindedness," read part of the statement.

Veteran politician William Ole Ntimama called on investigations to establish who shot a protestor. "There is a strong rumour that the young man was not shot by police but by other people. It is good to establish the truth," he said.

Mr Kamwaro faulted the perceived high-handed manner in which the government cracked down on the demonstrators, including the detention of the five legislators.

"The government made two mistakes: banning the rally and detaining our leaders. What is it that they had done to warrant them to be treated as common criminals?

The group opposed to Tunai first held demonstrations to press for Tunai's ouster on November 24 and had planned another peaceful demonstration on December 8.

"But we were summoned by the President and told to call off the demonstrations because one of our own would once again join the Cabinet and help mediate the crisis at the county," said Ole Kamwaro

However, after the talks failed, the group defied warnings by the government and went ahead with their demonstration on January 26, which turned violent.

Kelena Ole Nchoe, a former chairman of the Narok County Council, claimed CS Nkaiserry is being used to fight the community.

"Other people have been holding demonstrations against their governors, why haven't the police been deployed to stop those demos? Why haven't we heard of people being shot at those demos? Why is it so important for Narok residents to keep mum when all they demand is to be in control of their destiny. We know him. Nkaiserry is our son. Why would he agree to listen to one side of the story?," he said.

The raging conflicts could have a major impact on Jubilee's fortunes in Maasailand, especially now when it is trying to wrest the Kajiado seat from the Opposition CORD.

While addressing a press conference after being released on bond, Ole Kenta told CORD leaders who had come to support them that they were ready to switch political camps, if need be.

During last year's General Elections, Jubilee Coalition swept the boards in Narok County, producing the senator, the governor, women representative and five of the six MPs.

The DP's United Republican Party (URP) produced three MPs: Lemanken (Narok East), Ole Lemein (Narok South) and Patrick Ntutu (Narok West).
Ole Kenta was elected on President Kenyatta's The National Alliance (TNA) while Johanna Ng'eno of Emurua Dikirr was elected on a Kenya National Congress ticket.

However, this distribution of parliamentary seats might not be a true reflection of the voting patterns in the county as closer examination of the 2013 presidential result reveals.

Despite Jubilee winning all the electable seats, Uhuru lost the presidential vote to Raila. Uhuru garnered 46.38 per cent while Raila had 50.28 per cent.

Ironically, it was in Narok North where Uhuru's TNA won its sole parliamentary seat that Uhuru suffered his heaviest defeat in Narok County. He got 18,080 votes against Raila's 34,991 votes.
However, Ole Kenta said he is not planning on defecting. "I am going to fight within the party and within the government although there are concerns on the ground that Jubilee has not made its stand clear on these issues," he said.

Political observers say the conflicts have been fuelled to some extent by the fact that for the first time in its history, the populous Purko clan is not at the centre of the power in Narok County.

Senator Ntutu and the three MPs from the County who are in his camp are all from the Purko clan. Emurua Dikirr MP Ng'eno is a Kalenjin.
Governor Tunai hails from the minority Siria clan in Trans Mara sub-county. The two MPs who have supported him – Konchella and Lemaken – also come from the minority clans – Uasin Gishu and Keekonyokie, respectively.

Women Representative Soipan Tuya is the only MP from the Purko clan who is supporting him. The governor also enjoys the majority support of his Members of County Assembly.

However, political observers say the Purko lost the coveted governor's seat after they split their vote among the three candidates who hail from the clan.

The candidates from the Purko clan were Joseph Musuni Ole Tiampati (KNC, 55,008 votes), Johnson Parsoloi Nchoe (ODM, 39,100) and Francis Simiren Nkoitoi (Wiper, 20, 789).

Together, they garnered 114,897 votes against Ole Tunai's 87,832. Tunai is said to have won due to the overwhelming vote of the "migrant" communities who supported him.

Mr Nchoe alleged that Mr Tunai is keen on bolstering the migrant vote by rewarding them with jobs in the county government and facilitating their settlement in the county at the expense of the locals.

"We know there are people who are already bringing in outsiders in preparation for the next elections. We know that the Kipsigis are being given parcels of land in Mau forest with the blessing of political leaders so as to increase the numbers of a particular community in this county," he says.

How Jubilee handles the Narok affair will determine whether it will effectively lock the Maasai vote in its favour — a vote that has been evenly split between Uhuru and Raila in the last election.

The Jubilee government seemed to be succeeding in this regard when it won over Mr Ntimama who defected from ODM to the TNA last year.

However, Mr Ntimama has joined hands with his longtime opponent to the mantle of Maasai leadership Senator Ntutu to wage a war against Governor Tunai.

The Kajiado Central by-election will provide a testing ground for the two parties to test their popularities in light of the wrangles in Narok County.

During the last elections, the Jubilee Coalition won four of the five seats on the TNA ticket; Kajiado North, Kajiado East, Kajiado West and Kajiado South constituencies.

ODM won Kajiado Central seat that has now been left vacant after Mr Nkaiserry joined the Cabinet. However, the result of the presidential vote was almost the opposite of what happened in Narok. Uhuru won the presidential vote with 52.36 per cent of the vote while Raila got 44.44 per cent of the vote. Raila won the presidential vote in two constituencies — Kajiado Central and Kajiado East.