IS WILLIAM RUTO ABOUT TO DITCH ODM AND MOVE TO KENDA, AS STRONG RUMOURS SPREAD IN ELDORET AND KERICHO?

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo in Kisumu City

STRONG rumors making the round in two busiest towns in the expansive Rift Valley allege that the Agriculture Minister William Ruto has found a soft landing spot in the dormant KENDA party and that the Eldoret North MP is soon take over its leadership from Kamlesh Patni.

The idea of taking over the mantle of leadership of Kenda, it is further being alleged, came about after his numerous attempts to take over the leadership of the United Democratic Movement[UDM} failed.

Ruto had originally planned to rejoin the UDM, and for some time had been having a good rapport with the UDM Secretary General, Mr. Ole Kamwaro, in anticipation that his relations with the ODM leader Raila Odinga is irreconcilable. This is evidenced by his latest persistent contradictions and criticism of every move made by the ODM collectively with other party leaders.

As the deputy leaders of the ODM ,Ruto is supposed to articulate the party’s stand on the draft constitution. But he has been doing the exact opposite, as he has seized every opportunity to criticize his own party, saying derogatorily that “some people are not all cemented in that and membership of ODM is not for life and death”.

A source in Kericho told this writer that Ruto is just buying time while at the same time trying to rock the ODM boat from within, before his last kick.

Unconfirmed rumors also allege that, through the brokerage of Mrs. Lina Jebii Kilimo, the only Kenda MP sitting in the 10th parliament, Ruto has allegedly struck a deal with Mr. Kamlesh Patni, who in turn would relinquish his position as the Kenda party leader in favor of Ruto.

It is understood that the Kenda party will be restructured, with the Mvita MP and Minister for Tourism Najib Balala, taking over as the deputy party leader. Mr Patni will be relegated to the position of the party national organizing secretary in the new look Kenda party. Simama Kenya leader Jimmy Kibaki is slated to become the Kenda Secretary General, with the MP for Konoin, Dr. Julius Kones as his deputy in the new lineup.

It is also rumored that the former MP for South Mugirango, Omingo Magara, who lost his parliamentary seat following the nullification of his seat by the High Court a couple of months ago would be made the national treasurer of the Kenda. Magara is the current national treasurer of the ODM, but he is reported to be disillusioned after the party leadership turned down his request to be given a direct party nomination.

Mrs. Kilimo has of late been actively turning out during Ruto news conferences, and she is on record for launching scathing criticisms against Raila Odinga, although she is a member of PNU.

Ruto is reported to have enlisted the support of a number of politicians inside Luo-Nyanza, who are said not to be comfortable with the leadership of Raila Odinga. Among those whose names are being mentioned and rumored as having covertly made contact with Ruto is the powerful chairman of the Luo Council of Elders, Ker Meshack Ogalo Riaga.

But speaking at a function held in Kochogo village near Ahero Town, Riaga Ogalo fiercely denied any political association or connections with Ruto. He admitted that he invited the Minister to preside over a funds drive meeting in favor of a church, which is located next to his home, and where he and his family pray in every week.

Riaga Ogalo dismissed the rumors as “childish” and reaffirmed his unswerving loyalty to the ODM and its leader Raila Amolo Odinga. He urged all the adult youths, both male and female who have attained the ages of 18, to come out in their thousands and register themselves as voters during the on going voters registration exercises, so that they will vote for Mr Odinga to realize his presidential ambition comes the year 2012.

Ker Ogalo was speaking during the installation ceremony of Mr Joseph Adera Owiny as an elder {Ogai} of the Jo-Kochogo sub-clan of the larger Jo-Kano clan. Owiny, a former senior administrative officer and a life member of the Agricultural Society of Kenya {ASK} has succeeded the late Mzee Aloo Opiko, who had served in the same capacity for many years until he succumbed to death last year.

Sources in Kisumu have confided to us that Ker Riag Ogalo of late is having myriad of problems

There is a strong pressure mounting that he should call for the elections. All the current Council members have been serving in an interim capacity and they need to be elected fresh

When the Prime Minister met with the Council members at the Ofafa Memorial Hall in Kisumu last month, he did not mince his word, but told the Council members that for them to be able to earn respect from members of the community, they must undergo the process of the elections.

Other sources says Ker Ogalo’s problems originated from his recent secret trip to Libya, which is said to have degenerated into a lot of controversies and suspicion as well as severest criticism.

During the visit in which Ker Riaga Ogalo joined members of the Njuri Ncheke from Meru, the Libya strong man Col Muamor Gadhafi made some hefty donations of cash, tractors and motor vehicles. The Luo Council of Elders is said to have benefited from a gift of a Nissan Van, which was supposed to have been released to them by Mr. Kamlesh Patni. But other Council members immediately questioned the rationale of having the vehicle delivered by Mr Patni.

The trip to Libya by Ker Riaga Ogalo appeared not to have had the blessing of the ODM leadership and at the same time, other Council member have dissented, prompting the call for the Council’s election. How Patni’s name has cropped up in what is exclusively a Luo affair remains a mystery to many members of the community.

Ruto criticized on plans to ditch ODM
The alleged move to ditch the ODM for Kenda by Ruto and some of the Kalenjin MPs from the Rift Valley seems to have elicited a lot of criticism from senior politicians in the South Rift, who feel that the Kalenjin community would be much safe and prosperous if the community remain steadfast in the ODM, as opposed to the migratory kind of politics being advocated by Ruto and his colleagues.

The majority of the Kipsigis, despite the mounting pressure of anti-Railla Odinga campaigns in the region, maintain that the Prime Minister is more mature, sincere and totally committed to help Kenya come out of the yokes of corruption.

It is clear in the Kipsigis region that those MPs from the area, who are presently flirting with Ruto and preaching divisive politics which are aimed at destroying the ODM, would lose their seats come the 2012 general election. The majority of the Kipsigis people have made it clear that they will not join any political party that would associate them with the Kikuyus. And that they are ready to remain steadfast in the ODM with or without Ruto.

A number of Kipsigis politicians are said to have been sending emissaries’ to Ruto, telling him to stick to ODM and reconcile with Raila Odinga, or else the community could find itself locked out of the next government after the next general elections.

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leooderaomolo@yahoo.com