Raila apologises to Rift Valley
PHOTO | REBECCA NDUKU Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Industrialization Minister Henry Kosgey during a meeting in Nakuru on October 29, 2012.
What you need to know:
- The residents overwhelmingly voted for Mr Odinga in 2007 elections but he has since fallen out with URP leader William Ruto. Some of the region’s leaders have subsequently moved from ODM to URP
- In his speech, Mr Odinga revealed for the first time that he was talking with Mr Ruto with a view of forming an alliance
- The PM maintained that he was wrongly blamed for the Mau eviction and the ICC case that Mr Ruto is facing at The Hague
Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday pleaded with Rift Valley voters to forgive him for anything wrong he might have done to them.
The PM regretted that the community has been made to believe that he was against them.
“I’m asking for forgiveness from you. Please forgive me if I did anything wrong. I am human,” he said.
The residents overwhelmingly voted for Mr Odinga in 2007 elections but he has since fallen out with URP leader William Ruto. Some of the region’s leaders have subsequently moved from ODM to URP.
However Mr Ruto has been under pressure from Kalenjin elders to team up with Mr Odinga.
On Monday the PM spent the better part of the day listening to over 500 grassroots leaders from the community who had converged at the home of former NCIC Commissioner Lawrence Bomett in Nakuru County.
Mr Bomett resigned a few weeks ago to vie for governor in Nakuru County.
He has been an ally of Mr Ruto but is now expected to join ODM which does not have a candidate for governor in the county.
In his speech, Mr Odinga revealed for the first time that he was talking with Mr Ruto with a view of forming an alliance.
“We have started talking with him… I’m ready and willing to engage him. The ball is in his court,” he said upon prodding by the gathering.
The PM maintained that he was wrongly blamed for the Mau eviction and the ICC case that Mr Ruto is facing at The Hague.
He was accompanied by Cabinet ministers Henry Kosgey, Anyang’ Nyong’o, James Orengo, Musa Sirma, Paul Otuoma and several civic leaders from six counties in the Rift Valley region.
He told the leaders that he was given a raw deal by PNU in their power sharing after the elections saying that is why he was not able to assist the community the way he would have wanted.
