Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kericho Town.

The controversy surrounding last week’s nomination of nine Kenyans to represent the country to the East African Legislative Assembly{EALA}has created a new political dimension in the Kipsigis dominated South Rift region of the Rift Valley Province.

The Eldoret North MP William Ruto, the leader of the United Republican Party of Kenya {URP} has suffered a major political set back in presidential ambition by losing the populous Kisigis community in the South Rift.

Kipsigis a sub-tribe of the larger Kalenjin ethnic groups is arguably the most populous among the eleven or more sub-tribes that forms the larger Kalenjin.

The community is capable of turning out more than 1.5 million voters. The Kipsigis voters have the big and extended influence in the neighboring regions lie Kilgoris in Trans-Nzoia, Kuresoi, Molo, Rongai and Koibatek and Nandi South district.

It will vote for eleven members of parliament in the next general election within the two Counties of Kericho and Bomet.

The community supported the ODM in 2007 and voted for its presidential candidate Raila Odinga on a man-to-man.

The region then boost eight parliamentary constituencies covering Cheplungu, Bomet, Sotik, Buret,Belgut, Konoin, Ainamoi and Kipkellion. However, the region benefited by getting three new additional parliamentary constituencies following her splitting of Kipkelion, Belgut and Bomet by the Independent electoral and Boundary Commission {IEBC}. The three parliamentary constituencies were among he 80 additional seats, bringing the total number of MPs 290 instead of the previous 210.

In 2007 Zakayo K. Cheruiyot the former powerful Permanent Secretary in-charge of Internal Security and Provincial Administration under the retired President Daniel Arap Moi’s last KANU regime that los power to the combined opposition forces under the umbrella of NARC had won the Kuresoi seat. Kuresoi has also benefited from one additional seat in parliamentary constituency called Olenguruone.

Given the high number of Kipsigis people living in the diaspora, the Community is likely to increase its parliamentary strength from 9 MPs to a total of 14parliamentarian.There is also the likelihood that a member of the community could clinch the Kilgoris seat in the neighboring Trans-Mara district, which fall under the County of Narok.given the fact that the number of Kipsigis and other Kalenjin settlers have since outnumbered the indiginant Maasai residents.

The indications are all that William Ruto last week action in sabotaging the nomination of the influential members of the community to the important regional legislative body has betrayed his hitherto raising star in the South Rift region. He is now being treated as an enemy of the Kipsigis community.

Ruto and his political surrogates had sabotaged the nomination of Donald Ng’eny and Lt.Gen John Koech under the pretext of fighting the Prime Minister Raila Odinga. But the locals have since misinterpreted his actions to mean that he is trying to marginalize the Kipsigis in the same way and manner they community was marginalized by the retired President Daniel Arap Moi.

Political pundits in Kericho town and its environs were quick in pointing out that the last week’s controversy surrounding the nomination to the EALA, Ruto and his URP has virtually locked himself out of the Kipsigis region, something which could have adverse repercussion on his presidential bid.

On senior Kipsigis politician accused Ruto for having looked upon the Kipsigis as the backward people. William Kipkemoi Arap Kettienya, a prominent politician in Kipsigis and recalled that while William Ruto was serving in a very fertile Ministry of Agriculture. Despite having close to 28 parastatals and boar, he never appointed not even one Kipsigis as the board member.

It was only soon after the {Ruto} had been kicked out the Ministry when President Kibaki and the Prime Minister Raila Odinga appointed Dr. Sally Kosgey the new Minister when she promptly appointed the former Health Minister Paul Sang, the immediate former Buret MP as the chairman of the board of directors of the Nyayo Tea Zone.

Leaders in the South region are fondly remembering that a year ago, the same Kalenjin MPs allied to Ruto had ganged up and mounted a spirited opposition to William Kirwa whose name had been proposed by President Mwai Kibaki to the post of Director of Budget.

The same bunch of Kalenjin MPs allied Ruto supporters had also opposed the appointment of Dr P Rotich as the deputy Director of the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission on some flimsy grounds.

The last incident in which Ruto is alleged to have mobilized his URP supporters and had ganged up with some MP from Mount Kenya region to derail the nomination of three prominent Kipsigis to the EALA has hit the South Rift region like Tsunami.

An ODM supporter in Kericho Nicholas Tum described Ruto action a tragedy and hypocrites to the Kalenji community. It ha exposed the Kalenjin politician as cheap lots which could be bought and pushed around when handling matter of national importance. If they could deny a Kalenjin an opportunity to serve in such important regional legislative body like EALA, then Ruto and his friends have no business claiming to represent the view of the community, but their own self-interests”,said Tum who is an ODM nominated Councilor in the Kericho Municipality.

Tum urged the Kipsigis to remain steadfast in ODM and voted for the party massively .The community will be much safe under an ODM government led by Raila Odinga as the President. “Our people must guard against the politics of opportunism and those of deceit.

Meanwhile a campaign has been launched in the South Rift region where the residents have been told to boycott called and addressed by the so-called anti-Raila Odinga elements”, said Coun.Tum.

It would be n uphill task for anyone among the sitting MPs allied to William Ruto to retain their parliamentary seat come the next year’s poll, said Robert Koskei, a Bureti politician. These people have spent five years directing their energies fighting Raila Odinga at the behest of William Ruto, and yet the Prime Minister is not an issue no is he the enemy of the entire Kipsigis community.

Our people must keep away from parties that is preaching h balkanization of the communities such as Kamatus and Gema and join only those political parties with the national outlook and whose leaders are armed with attractive agendas and policy for he well being of Kenyans and not a section of the communities.”

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