RUTO SHOULD TREAD CAREFULLY

THE STANDARD
NAIROBI, KENYA
MARCH 13, 2009

Perception in my village is strong Mr William Ruto is herding the Kalenjin into sharing a political kraal with the Kikuyu. Kamukunji MP Simeon Mbugua announced the labour pangs of the KK Alliance (Kalenjin-Kikuyu). It is a reunion of Agriculture Minister Ruto and his former Kanu chairman, Uhuru Kenyatta.

I dislike ethnic tags and stereotypes, but we must bite the bullet — this is the monster that destroyed our sense of humanity. It is what bungled our elections and fanned post-election fires. Our political parties and alliances are merely drifting tectonic plates temporarily bound by the glue of mutual gain they guarantee our tribal headmen.

Ruto said the ‘clients’ for The Hague or a stunted local special tribunal would be Kikuyus and Kalenjins. The Eldoret North MP meant the two groups must unite as they have a common ‘enemy’.

Did we not learn from the failure of Gema (the Gikuyu, Embu, Meru Association) and Kamatusa (the Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana, Samburu Association)?

Mbugua said uniting would stem the ‘ill-wind’ that sprouted from Lake Victoria in 2007 — setting the two communities against each other. Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny clattered the alliance would prevent another round of Kalenjin-Kikuyu clashes in the volatile Rift Valley Province. They spoke at a camp for the internally displaced in Burnt Forest, as Ruto declared it was the beginning of Operation Karibu Nyumbani (welcome home).

I am not scoffing at the peace initiative, but at its being laced with politics. We are making IDPs pawns in a high-stakes political game. If the political equation does not work, the consequences are scary. I hate to imagine that forcing the two communities (at least those in the Rift) into some form of political alliance by crafting a form of symbiotic relationship fed by peace, land and votes, would calm the perennial fires in the province. Quench it may, but not extinguish the embers.

Historical Fissures

On May 23 last year, in my 152nd column here, I argued: "In the end it (Kalenjin-Kikuyu clashes) — shall be resolved not by the police gun, but by the hearts of ‘pangaless’ Kikuyus and ‘arrowless’ Kalenjins." I should have added it would take more than alliances of convenience. I went on: "The historical fissures run deep and Mr Samuel Kivuitu and his shameless cast were just but the catalyst. They reinforced perceptions of subjugation, domination and neo-colonisation in the swathe of land the Kalenjin believe they once owned."

I can fathom Ruto’s fury; he feels let down by PM Raila Odinga, dislikes playing second fiddle to his co-deputy party leader Musalia Mudavadi, and his fierce ambition makes him insecure in the knowledge someone could go for his political scalp before the 2012 General Election.

He survived a censure Motion, banked on support of Central Kenya politicians, which he believes was planned by Justice Minister Martha Karua to stop him before 2012. Uhuru is fighting for central Kenya’s political pedestal with Karua and, like Ruto, grapples with claims his name could be in the secret envelope. In the circumstances, the adage ‘your enemy is my enemy’ won.

But you can’t rule out the possibility Uhuru’s courtiers are out to weaken ODM by isolating Raila. Once Raila and Ruto are apart, it could be time to deal with Arap Samoei! Ruto could also be sending a coded message to Raila. Again, I pity the IDPs if this does not work out and the Kalenjin come to believe they were betrayed. Ruto and his supporters should draw lessons from Tupac Amaru II’s Peruvian rebellion in the 1780s against Spanish colonisation. Amaru II captured the Spanish Governor and forced to issue edicts to his co-rulers summoning them for a meeting. When about 200 of them had arrived, Amaru II and his 4,000 soldiers surrounded them and ordered the governor’s hanging.

The insurrection spread with Amaru II recording victory after another. Then he lost control of his armies as they went into killing and looting spree. The Spanish sent someone to investigate abuse of Peruvian peasants, but he ended up Amaru II’s torturer: "(Amaru II) and his family were tortured their tongues torn out, the heads sent around the region and what was left burned and thrown in the river... Tupac had to witness how they tortured and killed his family members."

The moral is a man’s gains in war, as in politics, can blind him to the yawning abyss. Albert Einstein taught: "We can never solve significant problems from the same level of thinking we were at when we created the problems."

Wolfgang Goethe said: "In politics, as on a sickbed, men toss from side to side in hope of lying more comfortably." It is also then true those who toss in bed may fall and break their back.

The writer is The Standard’s Managing Editor, Weekend Editions.

ktanui@eastandard.net