Angry South Rift leaders tell Ruto to rein in Duale

South Rift leaders on Tuesday protested against what they said were persistent insults by Leader of Majority Aden Duale.

Accusing Mr Duale of being overly excited by his senior position in Parliament, they said a slur against two governors last week were uncalled for.

Accompanying Deputy President William Ruto to the funeral of former Ainamoi MP Noah Arap Too, Mr Duale accused Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto and his Kericho colleague Paul Chepkwony of “going berserk after being allocated small budgets”.

Emurua-Dikirr MP Johana Ngeno said in Kericho Town yesterday he wondered why DP Ruto allowed the Garissa Township MP to hurl insults at leaders perceived to be opposed to the DP.

“We were hoping that at some point, the DP would prevail upon his close allies to respect the elected leaders of this region. Instead, every time he comes here with Duale, we endure insults and all manner of abuse,” he said.

In his outburst, the Majority Leader said the governors were out of their league in national politics and should be content with “watching from a distance and cheering” when DP Ruto and other national leaders are playing.

“You are a governor and we have given you small money to run your county and now you have run mad. Governors and senators must play with their counterparts,” he said.
Mr Ngeno said the statements were inappropriate for a man of his stature.

He told DP Ruto that failure to rein in Mr Duale could ruin his plans of rallying the Kalenjin behind him.

“Politics is a game of persuasion not coercion. Duale cannot purport to be speaking on his own when he attends a meeting with the DP and uses his protection to try and force leaders to join the Jubilee Alliance Party. It is irresponsible to say the least,” he added.

Londiani MCA Jackson Kikwai demanded an apology from Mr Duale.

He said governors Ruto and Chepkwony were free to decide their political direction and urged DP Ruto to “stop bringing people to the South Rift whose only intention is to embarrass elected leaders”.

“Mr Duale must know these are the leaders we chose and we are demanding that he respects them,” he said.

Last year, Mr Duale rubbed leaders the wrong way when he called Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter as a bubu (dumb) at a meeting in Kericho.

He also caused an uproar last September when he told Governor Ruto to account for public funds because they “do not belong to his mother.”