Uhuru visit exposes cracks in Jubilee

By STEVE MKAWALE

KENYA: A recent ‘thank you’ tour of the Rift Valley by President Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto brought to fore discontent within Jubilee.

What came out clearly is that the region’s residents, who supported the Jubilee coalition in the March 4 General Election, feel left out in senior State appointments and development.

The face of dissent was represented by Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, who was cheered by residents in Eldoret as he took on the Government over the Standard Gauge Railway, ‘fixing’ of Ruto at the ICC and why Governors were snubbed in planning for the President’s trip.

According to him, county leaders were also left out in the drawing up of a memorandum presented at Litein Sub County Commissioner’s residence by former PC Isaiah Cheluget. Governors Isaac Ruto (Bomet), Paul Chepkwony (Kericho) and Samuel Tunai (Narok) watched in disbelief as Bureti MP Leonard Sang invited leaders other than those who had earlier been picked to speak on behalf of regions.

Ruto intervention

At one time, Governor Ruto intervened and demanded that one Reverend Mutai speak on behalf of Nakuru County, which had been left out of the list of regions falling under the South Rift. As Sang appeared to snub Isaac, the Deputy President intervened.

A day before the rally at Kapkatet Sports Ground in Kericho County, MPs from Bomet, led by Senator Wilfred Lessan, had snubbed a meeting called by Governor Ruto and Chepkwony to draw  up a programme for the meeting and lay out the development agenda to be presented to the President.

The meeting at Tea Research Foundation in Kericho was attended by Members of County Assembly and elders from Narok, Nakuru and Bomet.

Residents of the Rift Valley, who gave the Jubilee Government two million votes, feel disillusioned, claiming the Deputy President has failed to deliver on his campaign promises. The tour by the two leaders was meant to quell the discontentment within the ranks of the ruling coalition.

Uhuru and his deputy held closed-door meetings with leaders in the region before addressing public meetings in North Rift at Eldoret Sports Club and in South Rift’s historical Kaptatet Stadium.

Prior to the meetings, a section of leaders from the Kalenjin community intensified complaints that the community had been given a raw deal in the Jubilee coalition, which brings together TNA and URP. During a leaders’ meeting, Uhuru and Ruto were confronted with claims that URP was being sidelined as TNA protégés were taking all State jobs.

Some leaders in the region voiced their concerns accusing some individuals serving in Uhuru’s government of having ‘fixed’ Ruto at the ICC. But Ruto asked the local leaders to discuss development issues instead of discussing individuals.

“Simple minds discuss individuals, great minds discuss ideas,” said Ruto at the AIC Pioneer Church in Eldoret town, where he was accompanied by governors Alex Tolgos of Elgeyo Marakwet and Cleophas Lagat of Nandi.

Ruto asked elected leaders in the region to deliver on their mandate instead of wrangling.

He said the leaders would at the end of their term be required to account for what they had done during their tenure. “You will meet the electorate when time comes. You should perform your work for the people. I and President Uhuru will do our part. Do yours,” Ruto said.

State jobs

On Tuesday in the South Rift, local leaders presented a memorandum to Uhuru. Among the issues was the appointment of Nixon Sigei as head of Kenya Bureau of Standards.

Sigei, who has been on an acting capacity, came top in interviews conducted by a consultant engaged by the board. However, Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohammed is said to have been angling for George Ongwae, a former colleague at Barclays Bank, to take up the job.

Resettlement of Mau evictees stuck out as a sore thumb with governors insisting that the people must be compensated like other IDPs from neighbouring counties.

Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto told the President to form a task force to look into the conservation of the forest, with a view to allowing residents take a leading role.

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Joyce Laboso said the Government should look into the falling prices of tea at the Mombasa Tea Auction, saying it was affecting farmers in the region. Uhuru assured the residents that the Government would deliver on all its election pledges and urged the locals and leaders to continue supporting the Jubilee Government.

He warned MPs against being used by tycoons to destabilise the Government over lucrative State contracts.

During a function at Kapsabet’s Kipchoge Keino Stadium, Alfred Keter declared that he was not “ready to be a sycophant of anyone other than those who elected me to Parliament.”

Keter turned the heat on the Government over the planned new dual gauge Mombasa-Malaba-Kisumu Railway to be constructed at what he said was an exaggerated cost of $7 billion against an international acceptable cost of $2 billion.

Keter told his colleagues in Parliament, particularly those from Rift Valley, to stand up and speak out against unfairness in the distribution of State jobs, which ran counter to the pre-election agreements that URP had made with TNA. But nominated MP Johnson Sakaja told the rally: “Let me remove any doubt in the minds of the people of Rift Valley that Jubilee has not abandoned you because the Government is yours.”

The TNA chairman claimed that the on-going squabbles in Jubilee were being fueled by ODM to wreck the party from within.

Keter, a youthful first-time MP was given a tongue lashing by the Deputy President when he arrived at Kapkatet, as fellow MPs were being introduced amidst heavy rainfall, which the crowd braved.

Ruto, while pointing a wagging finger, told Keter not to introduce divisive issues in the region.

Keter was the only MP who was not introduced at the meeting.