TNA-URP deal seen as solution to perennial ethnic clashes
PHOTO | FILE Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta (R) and Eldoret North MP William Ruto at a past rally. The pre-election pact between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto is seen in some quarters as a solution to the perennial ethnic clashes that have dogged the Rift Valley during general elections.
What you need to know:
- The Rift Valley was the epicentre of the 2007 post-election violence where more than 1,200 people were killed and another 350,000 displaced
- Elders from the two communities contend that the political union Kenyatta and Ruto might yield a peace dividend – albeit accidentally – in the troubled Rift Valley
- Mr Kenyatta of TNA and Mr Ruto’s URP have agreed to share elective seats and positions in the civil service on a 50-50 basis
The pre-election political pact between Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto is seen in some quarters as a solution to the perennial ethnic clashes that have dogged the Rift Valley during general elections. (Read: Poll deal will bring peace, says Ruto)
The region was the epicentre of the 2007 post-election violence where more than 1,200 people were killed and another 350,000 displaced.
The Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities have been the main protagonists in presidential elections since 1992.
However, elders from the two communities contend that the political union of the two might yield a peace dividend – albeit accidentally – in the troubled Rift Valley.
The elders have welcomed the alliance that brings together Mr Kenyatta of TNA and Mr Ruto’s URP, saying it might offer elusive peace this time round.
Mr Andrew Yatich, the coordinator of the joint peace efforts bringing together Kikuyu and Kalenjin elders in Nakuru County, lauded the pre-alliance deal saying that it will go a long way towards promoting co-existence between communities in the region.
“It will help a lot because we found out that sharing of resources and leadership positions were the main source of conflict,” Mr Yatich said.
The two parties have agreed to share elective seats and positions in the civil service on a 50-50 basis.
According to the arrangement, Mr Kenyatta will vie for the presidency with Mr Ruto will be his running mate.
Mr Yatich, however, cautioned that all the other tribes must be accommodated in the arrangement.
The symbolic significance of Nakuru for Sunday’s formal unveiling of the TNA-URP agreement is not lost on observers. How the politics of this sensitive town pan out will determine the future of the coalition.
On one side the Kalenjin consider the town part of their ancestral home and hence have the outright claim to its leadership.
However, the Kikuyu on the other hand feel that they have the numbers to win a majority of the elective seats in the county.
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But the Kikuyu Council of Elders and the Kikuyu Cultural Elders Association have opposed the idea of political zoning saying all elective seats should be left open for all contestants.
However, the 450 elders endorsed the alliance saying that it was good for the country.
They urged the two parties to allow voters to determine those who will be elected for various seats on Tuesday.
Mr Lawrence Bomett, who is running for the governor’s seat in Nakuru County. dismissed the pre-election deal between the two leaders noting that the URP had been given a raw deal.
The former NCIC commissioner said the Kalenjin felt betrayed that the URP was not fielding a candidate for governor in Nakuru County.
“What was the need of the negotiation if they are taking all the big seats… we should just go to the ballot and allow voters to decide,” he said.
He said the deal between the two parties cannot guarantee peace in the region because some people feel locked out.
“The problem is historical injustices such as land issues but we don’t know what they said about that,” Mr Bomett said.
