Now leaders request DP to hold talks with party rebels

Deputy President William Ruto is under pressure from party members to talk to rebels who have been threatening his influence.

Emurua Dikir MP Johanna Ng’eno, his Bureti counterpart Leonard Sang and some other leaders from the Rift Valley region said they felt the rebels were gaining ground.
The MPs said the DP should not sit pretty when his United Republican Party was crumbling.

They said the reaction to a meeting between Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, his Narok counterpart Stephen ole Ntutu, Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto and his Kericho colleague Paul Chepkwony last weekend was lame.

Mr Ruto is also under pressure to change his advisers who are accused of misleading the URP leader that his influence in the region was intact.

Mr Ng’eno yesterday said the meeting by the four should not be dismissed because it brought together political bigwigs who could not be ignored.

“Politics is about perception. This group is positioning itself as an alternative that is ready to work with the people. People who are not satisfied with the DP will easily join them,” Mr Ng’eno said.
He called on the DP to look into ways of talking to the rebels in order to arrest the unrest.

“There is no harm in the DP working with former President Moi to unite Kalenjins,” the MP added.

Mr Sang said the party should attempt to steer the rebels back to the URP fold.

“We would be much stronger if we were together. I ask Bomet governor not to attack the party. If he has complaints, he should raise them with the party instead of issuing threats,” he told the Nation.

STOOD TO LOSE

He said the South Rift region stood to lose a lot if the rebellion continued.

Mr Ruto and Prof Chepkwony were elected on URP tickets but have been labelled rebels following their “Pesa Mashinani” campaign that was fiercely opposed by the Jubilee Coalition.
Early this year, Mr Ntutu, a URP senator, was arrested and charged with inciting protests against Narok Governor Samuel Tunai. 

Some MPs, however, dismissed the emerging alliance, saying they were not shaken.

They said Governor Ruto was desperate to get a political home after falling out with URP. They also dismissed Mr Moi saying he was a “mere senator without clout”.

Bomet Central MP Ronald Tonui said the governor had abandoned his ambitions to follow a senator.

“I thought we had a presidential candidate in Bomet. Governor Ruto announced recently to everyone that he would run for the presidency of this country. Why is he hiding under Gideon Moi? We are not interested in his gimmicks,” Mr Tonui said.

Bomet East MP Bernard Bett said the meeting did not warrant any scare.

“We were surprised to see a Council of Governors Chairman tagging along with a senator. He despises Bomet Senator Wilfred Lesan yet he is up and down with Gideon Moi,” Mr Bett, who has locked horns with the governor over the location of a public university in Bomet County, said yesterday.