Why Rift MPs left Uhuru function

South Rift legislators yesterday walked out on President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto when he toured Bomet University College.

Seven Bomet lawmakers led by Bomet Central MP Ronald Tonui and Senator Christopher Langat also snubbed the inaugural Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB ) trade and investment forum presided over by President Kenyatta and Ruto at the Bomet IAAF Stadium.

The MPs were at the constituent college of Moi University in Bomet town where the President and Mr Ruto were inspecting a university project that is under construction when they realised they would not be allowed to address the gathered crowd.

They walked out of the meeting and headed to a local hotel where they addressed a press conference.

The leaders had earlier accompanied Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso as she led the president and his deputy to open a Kenya Cooperative Creameries milk plant in Sotik, where they also failed to get a chance to address the gathering.

During the press conference, the leaders claimed that the top Jubilee Party leadership ignored their presence and deliberately failed to recognise them at the event.

Parallel meeting

They later addressed a parallel meeting in Bomet town as Uhuru and Ruto presided over the opening of the LREB Trade and Investment conference, which was only a stone's throw away.

The leaders said the decision to ignore their presence was in bad faith and deliberately orchestrated to block them from airing grievances of the electorate.

Mr Tonui said it was unusual to deny elected leaders the chance to address a meeting attended by the President in their county.

“This is open bias and we will not shy away from denouncing it. It should not be misconstrued to mean disrespect for the President but it should be known that we should not be ignored."

He said they had been unable to air the grievances and development needs of locals from the five constituencies in the county.

Uhuru and Ruto, however, steered clear of the controversy when addressing the LREB conference and instead dwelt on the importance of the regional economic bloc: the benefits to the people and how it would reduce inter-county conflicts like cattle rustling and fights over natural resources.

Among the protesting MPs were  Brighton Yegon (Konoin), Gideon Koskei (Chepalungu), Beatrice Kones (Bomet East), Joyce Korir (Woman Representative) and Alice Milgo (Nominated Senator).

Mrs Korir said among the issues they wanted to bring to the President’s attention was the recent Mau eviction.

“We have sought the attention of the President and this was the time to make it known that we are not satisfied with the manner our people were handled in Mau,” she said.

Meeting memorandum

She added: “We have requested to meet the President. One of the memorandum requesting a meeting, I was part of it and I signed. Then how in hell can they block us from telling him face to face that we want to meet him over the eviction?”

Mr Yegon said the President had made several development pledges during last year's campaigns that they hoped to remind him about.

“Uhuru made several pledges that have not been fulfilled. Where else do we get a forum to remind him if we are denied a chance to speak at his functions,” said the Konoin MP

He said the promise included Sh50 million for each upgrade of Koiwa, Kapkoros and Irwaga health centers.

Tonui said they also wanted to address the slow pace of construction at Bomet University, adding that they were unhappy with the contractor whom they accused of taking a lot of time with little work to show for it despite allegedly receiving over Sh500 million.

“By now five buildings are supposed to be complete but one is complete and the President was called in to open it. What a shame,” he said.

The MP said they were also unhappy with the alleged locking out of locals from employment at the university.

Mr Langat questioned the rationale of not giving leaders a chance to speak, saying Uhuru's recent visit to Nandi had seen even members of the county assembly giving speeches.

He said the move amounted to contempt and disrespect of Bomet's local leaders. Korir and Langat also claimed they were being blocked from speaking for fear of denouncing LREB.

Langat said they were unhappy with the plans to channel Sh200 million to the regional bloc while Korir vowed to continue speaking against the plan, saying it was not in the best interest of the public.