RUTO'S LETTER TO RAILA ODINGA

By Internet Sources

Ruto is serious on his threat to lead ODM supporters from Rift Valley in ditching ODM party if their interests were not safeguarded.

For the first time since the December 2007 elections, he publicly criticised Mr Odinga for failing to defend the interests of the Kalenjin community.

The following letter addressed to the PM was leaked from Ruto's private company- Venture Africa Safaris and Travel Ltd. Read on...

TO : Prime Minister Raila Odinga

DATE : 2ND/November/2008


CONCERNS ABOUT YOUR PRONOUNCEMENTS ON WAKI

It has become necessary to write you this letter because recently, our meetings have become thin both in frequency and content.

In mid October, a couple of days before Waki presented his report, you remember I came to see you at home and repeated my concerns that this report was going to be used to undermine key individuals and groups, and specifically, myself and Kalenjins in general, and you seemed to understand.

My major concern is that while you wholeheartedly agree with me in private, you always seem to find a way to act exactly opposite in public. I am therefore not convinced even by your assurance that you will use parliament to ensure the report dies in it's infancy.

When you went public with the insistence that the report should be implemented, it was not an astute political move, contrary to what you tried to justify to me later. Central Kenya 's attitude towards you did not undergo magical change. I fail to see what political mileage you achieved. My dear friend, many of your supporters are now loudly wondering, on whose side are you on?

However, I accept that ultimately, only you can decide which drumbeat you want to dance to.

Owing to your public pronouncements, I have taken the initiative of holding several meetings with those MP's from Rift Valley who share my vision, and a surprising number from outside RV as well. We feel pushed to the wall and we recognize that the problems facing us can no longer be left to the sole hope that a meeting with the PM will resolve issues.

Therefore, we have resolved as follows:

1) That if ODM resolves to support the Waki report, the entire lot of sixteen MP's who attended the meeting will resign from ODM, and yes, we are prepared to go back to our people to seek fresh mandate.
2) We shall be free to seek alternative co-operation with whoever is prepared to accommodate our views in the entire political spectrum.
3) In this regard, I have already prepared my letter of resignation as Minister for Agriculture, and I wish to repeat my gratitude for your efforts in appointing me. In the letter, I have nothing bad to say about you and I have in fact acknowledged your positive contributions to the Republic Of Kenya .
4) It is not our intention to scuttle the arrangements that give you a parliamentary majority and allow you to be PM in the coalition government, however, we must place the interests of our electorate first. We owe them everything and many of us are tired of returning home every weekend with shame on our faces. Unlike many other politicians, we will not forget those to whom we owe our positions.
This may seem like a drastic decision on our part, but on the contrary, it has been a long while coming, and ever since you came back from Sagana with a cabinet list which you crafted on your own, the question has not been whether, rather when this moment will come. I want to remind you of some events that you may have forgotten.

In all the instances when I am accused of being a warlord, you have never once defended me directly. On the contrary, you lend your weight to a report cleverly calculated to damage me irreparably. I am particularly bitter when I remember how, on Dec 29th, it was you who gave directions about sending funds to Elijah Chepkwony in order that a 'tougher message' be sent to the Kikuyus.

In January, you relentlessly reminded us that in 1997, the foreign powers told you that if you had managed to sustain civil disobedience and anarchy for a week then the International community would have stepped in against Moi's victory. In that analysis, you were definitely correct and I will not deny that.

Where we differ is that without the courage of the Rift Valley youths and their commanders, none of this would have been possible. Do we therefore reward them with the Hague after using them?

On June 23rd 2007, you were live on Kass FM, moderated by one Mr Sang. You reassured the Kalenjins that they would get back their land from foreigners. You promised them that there would be no more evictions in Mau. That was the night when you won the Kalenjin votes. What has caused you to betray them on each and every one of these issues, merely eighteen months later?

When the same vote-getting Kass FM was attacked as being a war monger station, not once did you come out to defend them. Kass was accused for it's vernacular messages. In any tribunal they will face, one of their defences is that there were other people spreading vernacular messages freely. In particular, they will point out that in your last political rally in Nairobi , you spent close to ten minutes exhorting people in Dholuo!

During the violence that followed the announcement of the election result, there was no major Rift Valley action in which you were, if not consulted, at least given a report.

During the campaigns, you were present on all those occasions when madoadoa were discussed, specifically on 21st July 2007 at Bomet and 4th Nov at Eldoret if you have forgotten.

In closing, I want to remind you that many people have not forgotten much of what you said in those days. The Kass interviews, and your contribution at the meetings, were recorded. If you do not whip your parliamentary muscle to defeat this report, it leaves you in a very precarious position because these people will not sink alone. They will quote you my dear friend.

You are the one who predicted that Waki would include some 'token' names who would then be able to exonerate themselves easily. That judge is no fool, and we all know why he made 'mistakes' in the accusations of Uhuru and his ilk, so they can get off and leave the rest of us. I can safely predict that next week after the PNU meeting, your friend Kibaki will emerge with a declaration that the entire PNU supports the implementation of Waki fully, flanked by Uhuru, Saitoti and co.

In the circus of trials that will follow, only one sure thing will come out of it. Not one of the Pentagon members will be left with a political future, and I repeat NOT ONE, except of course perhaps Joe Nyagah.

I now leave in your hands the future of ODM, your own seat in the coalition, and by extension, your entire list of Ministers.

In my opinion, you need to whip your side of ODM to unequivocally defeat this report, my side is ready. If you feel that this will cause you to lose face in view of your earlier stand, you can always speak to Dennis to report that you were arm-twisted by the MP's.

William Ruto