Elders: What we told Raila about Rift Valley vote

A section of elders from the Rift Valley which met Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday have said they did not endorse his candidacy but asked him to strike a deal with Eldoret North MP William Ruto.

The group calling itself the Nakuru County Kalenjin council of elders, which organised the meeting attended by 600 grassroots leaders from all over the province, said they wanted to air their grievances to the PM since they voted for him in 2007.

The meeting, held at the home of former National Cohesion and Integration Commission member Lawrence Bomett, was not intended to reconcile Mr Odinga and the Kalenjin community, they said.

“We are the ones who organised the meeting and it is important for Kenyans to note that we don’t belong to any party. We wanted to tell him our grievances and ask him to talk with Ruto (Eldoret North MP and the URP presidential candidate),” said Mr Josiah Ruto who is the elders’ chairman.

In the fevered alliance and coalition talks currently going on, meetings are taking place and statements made which are subsequently denied, depending on reactions.

ODM, which lost support in the province after Mr Odinga fell out with and sacked Mr Ruto from the Cabinet, has gone all out to win back the province back. (READ: Raila apologises to Rift Valley)

United Republican Party, led by Mr Ruto, also appears to be divided on how to deal with Mr Odinga’s approaches: some members say Mr Ruto will negotiate alliances on behalf of the party while others maintain that alliances must be dealt with by party structures and not individuals.

The PM, like other presidential aspirants, is seeking alliances with rivals to gain an edge in the race to succeed President Kibaki.

On Tuesday, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Democratic Movement denied reports that the party was involved in any “formal or informal” negotiations with ODM and cautioned its members from making any pronouncements that contradict the party’s or Mr Musyoka’s position on alliances. (READ: Hint of Raila-Kalonzo alliance)

Mr Johnstone Muthama, a member of Mr Musyoka’s inner circle, last week set tongues wagging when he hosted Mr Odinga to lunch at his Yatta home and later addressed rallies with him. He also conspicuously attended a Gor Mahia match with Mr Odinga at the weekend.

Mr Muthama said Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka should work together. Wiper’s shifting positions on whether it would do a deal with Mr Odinga would appear to suggest that it is either holding secret talks with Mr Odinga which it does not wish to make public, or it is using public shows of leaning towards Mr Odinga to spook the partners in the G7 grouping.

There have been reports that Mr Uhuru Kenyatta of The National Alliance has struck a deal with Mr Ruto in which Mr Ruto would be the Gatundu South MP’s running mate. (READ: Uhuru, Ruto for joint ticket)

Such an arrangement would leave Mr Musyoka out in the cold as far as G7 is concerned and therefore available for alliances with other parties, possibly including ODM.

In the meantime, Mr Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) and Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa’s New Ford Kenya are set to sign a coalition agreement on Friday.

As part of his efforts to get the Rift Valley vote, Mr Odinga apologised to the community for anything that he might have done wrong to them.

East African Community minister Musa Sirma, an ally of Mr Odinga, said they brought together the elders from the community to make clear the political direction the community prefers.