Central MPs hint at a Ruto-Uhuru 2012 alliance

Members of Parliament drawn from Kenya's Central province have rejuvenated talks of a possible political alliance between deputy prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto ahead of the 2012 presidential election.

Water assistant Minister Ferdinand Waititu, Jeremiah Kioni (Ndaragua) and Jamleck Kamau (Kigumo) told a fundraising event in Rongai constituency of the possibilities of merging the Central and Rift Valley voting blocs to clinch the presidency.

The fundraiser was presided over by William Ruto.

Such a partnership, they said, will be "occasioned by common interests".

During the event, the legislators announced that they had been sent by deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta to represent him as he (the latter) was committed in a presidential function in Nyeri.

Mr Ruto welcomed the gesture demonstrated by the Central province legislators, which he noted was the way forward to reconciling the two communities following the effects of 2008 post-election violence.

He also reckoned that while they were committed to mend political differences between the two communities, there were external forces that were trying to scuttle the efforts by implicating the two community leaders to the post election violence in “a bid to lock us out from our 2012 presidential ambition.”

“We know that there are a few individuals who are trying to incriminate us with violence that occurred in 2008 but if they are prophets of doom, none of them would succeed and we shall face each other on the ballot come 2012," said Mr Ruto.

A similar political alliance between the Kikuyu, Kalenjin and Kamba, christened as KKK alliance, has been in the offing but never took shape because of political fallouts during its infancy.

Other legislators at the event included Moses Lesonet (Eldama Ravine) and Boaz Kaino (Marakwet West).