Search This Blog

Followers

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Is William Ruto In Danger Of Being Arrested?

No other politician in Kenya today elicits such strong emotion either of strong hate or extreme fondness. Even Agwambo himself has not been able to keep up with this younger man where extreme emotions from the public are concerned. More so as the latter has tried to mellow down his radical image in preparation for the highest office in the land.

I am of course referring to William Ruto.

Although ODM insiders vehemently deny it, there is a lot of tension within ODM at the moment. In fact the anxiety is much higher than it ever was in the ODM-K days when there was heightened rivalry between Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga over who would be the party’s presidential nominee.

William Ruto is right at the centre of that heightened tension within ODM today.

This is the man who rubbished the decades of experience of retired former President Moi right across the Rift Valley and delivered virtually the entire Kalenjin community to Arap Mibei (as Raila is fondly referred to by the Kalenjins.)

PNU hardliners have always secretly sworn to deal with Ruto whom they accuse of being the chief orchestrator of the unprecedented violence in the Rift Valley. Interestingly this tough talk against Ruto has not ended with the signing of the peace deal, if anything it has increased considerably and impeccable sources tell this writer that evidence that links Ruto to the killings is being gathered even as you read this. Of course it is possible that this evidence is being put together for blackmail purposes. However this possibility is highly unlikely.

Apart from this evidence being gathered against their man, there are other factors responsible for the heightened tension amongst the Kalenjin community within ODM. The Kalenjin strongly feel that whatever has been achieved in partly reversing the blatant stealing of the presidential elections last year, their community has played the biggest role. It is therefore only fair that they get the majority of cabinet posts allocated to ODM in the grand coalition government. They will therefore settle for nothing less than at least 50 per cent or half the posts.

In fact what is making observers like Kumekucha increasingly nervous is the prospect of anybody going after Ruto, more so at this time when the peace is precarious to say the least. Sadly the truth of the matter is that incidences like the burning of women and children inside a church in Eldoret at the height of the violence, which received considerable International media coverage have pushed this whole issue into the realm of International politics and countries like the United States and others are now insisting that perpetrators of that extremely inhuman crime must be punished.

It is said that the Kalenjin militia who surrounded the church and made sure that the doors were bolted, stood and watched as the mostly Kikuyu women and children inside screamed and begged in vain for their lives. In fact it is said that the onlookers appeared to dance in glee at the horrible, horrible sounds coming from inside the church. Not to mention the distinct and unforgettable smell of human flesh burning.

There is no doubting that it was a hideous and ghastly crime. In fact if I were the judge, the first thing I would do would be to send the suspects for intensive psychiatric assessment.

Still there is a rather strong argument being raised by the Kalenjin community and other ODmers. They ask a simple question. Who was the bigger, inhuman murderer, the militia at that church in Eldoret (who killed a dozen or so people) or those behind the outright rigging of the presidential polls last December? This would include President Kibaki, his advisors and even Samuel Kivuitu and his ECK cronies who insist on hanging on to office to enjoy their big salaries and perks as many Kenyans displaced by their actions struggle to find something to eat.

This is an interesting question because those behind the rigging of the elections, assisted by the government of the United States, caused the death of over 5,000 Kenyans and then to add insult to injury falsified the death toll which to this day is reported everywhere as being a mere 1,000. This is laughable if it wasn’t such a serious issue because there are parts of the Rift Valley where one would count hundreds of bodies rotting on the ground and still unburied. Not to mention the packed mortuary in Kisumu which had hundreds of bodies. Add to that the City Mortuary in Nairobi where we have published photographic evidence in this blog that proves that the death toll could not have been 1,000. So who is the worse murderer and shouldn’t that murderer be brought to book before the Eldoret heartless militia? After all justice is supposed to be impartial. Right?

Actually, you can go tell that to the birds. In Kenya it has been known for a long time that “justice” is only meted out against the weak powerless and poor. For example the jails are full of poor people whose only crime is being poor. As you read this some of them are facing murder charges. The true criminals are not only roaming the streets free as a bird, after bribing their way out, but a good number of them are also sitting in high office in government.

Muta-do?

Some PNU insiders have repeatedly claimed that there is irrefutable evidence that links William Ruto to the violence in the Rift Valley. The only problem is that most of it cannot be used because it would compromise State security. But other evidence experts inform me that it is fairly easy to collect other evidence the minute you are sure you have the right man.

Those close to Ruto argue that their man is innocent and that it is other prominent Kalenjin leaders, some of them mere elders, who were behind the murderous violence in the Rift Valley.

William Ruto himself insists that he is innocent and that he has great love and respect for the Kikuyu community pointing out that his own sister is happily married to a Kikuyu.

Assuming that the government with the prodding of the Americans does not carry out their Kamikaze mission against Ruto, what is the political future of this darling of the Kalenjin community?

The bitter truth is that William Ruto for all his gallant political efforts may end up being the ultimate sacrifice of the ODM political party. This is because where the country’s politics is headed clearly does not favor Ruto politically. For starters after what happened in the Rift Valley recently, it matters little whether Ruto was guilty or not because the vast majority of the Kikuyu community would react even more violently than they ever did against Raila if Ruto were to seek the presidency in 2010, 2012 or whatever year it is we will go back to the polls. It is rather obvious that the next 2 presidents at least will have to be widely accepted across both the ODM strongholds and the PNU ones. This is assuming that Kenyans want their nation to be healed from the nightmare that was launched by the actions of a few Kenyans on the 29th and 30th of last December. If on the other hand, the idea is secession then Ruto would have a very bright political future. It is as simple as that.

And even as ODM struggle to keep their ship intact, a major determining factor in the immediate future of that party is William Ruto. The Kalenjin community too, will be a major force to reckon with in the next 3 or so presidential elections, even though their blue-eyed boy will most likely not be a participant.

P.S. I have increasingly found that a lot of the raw information I have I am NOT able to use in the public domain and especially here in Kumekucha. I have therefore decided to launch a private facility called Kumekucha’s raw notes where I openly share the very latest hot information I have weekly, and especially what I am NOT able to use directly in Kumekucha. I will charge a mere $15 (or Kshs 990) for one full years subscription to this information. If you are interested in subscribing to this hot info drop me an email NOW at umissedthis at yahoo dot com and I will give you further details of what you need to do.

By subscribing to Kumekucha’s raw notes, you will also be helping to finance the continued existence and enhanced quality of Kumekucha.