Ntimama joins Ruto in trashing Waki report

Heritage minister William ole Ntimama has joined a Cabinet colleague in criticising sections of the Waki report, saying it targeted members of certain communities in Rift Valley.

He demanded that sections riddled with “rumour and hearsay” on the Kalenjin and Maasai communities should be expunged from the Commission of Inquiry into post-election violence’s report.

However, the Waki report mentions suspects from many other communities as having taken part in the skirmishes which first erupted in the Rift Valley.

The minister, who spoke on Wednesday said: “I think the Waki report would definitely be suspect for incriminating people without proper evidence.

“We must expunge rumour and hearsay from this report before it is implemented.”

Just like the previous Akiwumi report, which is yet to be implemented, the Narok North MP claimed the Waki report could be targeting the two Rift Valley communities despite the fact that their rights had been violated by others.

“The communities which violated our rights were protected in the Akiwumi report. I hope this is not the case again in the Waki report,” Mr Ntimama said.

Although Mr Ntimama claimed the report targets the two communities, a clear study shows this was not the case.

The commission led by Appeal Court judge Philip Waki was mandated to also use previous investigations’ reports in its findings.

Special tribunal

On Tuesday, Agriculture minister William Ruto became the first top Government official to trash the report, describing it as useless and that the Waki team never met any of its mandate.

The Eldoret North MP said it was wrong for the Waki Commission to draw up a list of suspects without exhaustively investigating their role in the post-election violence.

He said the report did not get to the bottom of the matter and fell far short of expectations of Kenyans.