Revealed: Why Uhuru dropped much-awaited BBI rally in Eldoret

A disturbing situational report by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to President Uhuru Kenyatta earlier this week led to the cancellation of the Building Bridges Initiative rally in Eldoret, the Saturday Nation can reveal.

The meeting, initially set for March 21, had been billed as the litmus test for the rallies that have come to define the political truce between Mr Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.

The document pointed to looming bloody clashes between supporters of Deputy President William Ruto and those of Mr Odinga, who has become the public face of the BBI, a product of his handshake with Mr Kenyatta in early 2018.

As Eldoret is DP Ruto’s bastion, coupled with the aggressive approach towards him in the previous rallies, that was going to be the natural trigger of violence, the report noted.

Going in there would have therefore required DP’s blessings, a tall order given he disapproves of the rallies, or at least adopt a more conciliatory approach towards him. It would have meant denying some of the outspoken politicians a chance to speak, something the organisers were not keen on.

Equally, a source familiar with contents of the report confided to the Saturday Nation that it raised serious concerns that the rallies were polarising the country contrary to the intended purpose of uniting it. As such, Eldoret would have sounded the death knell for the rallies and in the process ‘stopping reggae’.

Local politicians are said to have embarked on massive mobilisation of youth not only as a show of might on D-Day but also for ‘protection’. With the scenarios well captured in the report, the President had no choice but to intervene.

Parts of the Rift Valley that are firmly under DP’s stranglehold are proving to be a hard nut to crack for the BBI team and they are struggling to make the Nakuru meeting successful, with reports showing that a large section of Tangatanga MPs plan to attend. They will be demanding to be fully included in the programme.

Those close to the DP, and opposed to the events, would naturally use the violence to justify their push to have them halted. They charge that Mr Odinga is using the rallies to get a head-start in his State House ambitions once President Kenyatta calls it a day.

The same NIS review gave the Meru meeting a below-par performance, a meeting that saw Mr Kuria and Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen, staunch Ruto allies, stage a mass workout from Kinoru last Saturday immediately after they finished speaking. It caught Mr Odinga and company unawares. They, however, shrugged it off and continued with the rest of the programme.

Based on the development, the organisers were, through the secretariat, informed on Tuesday to call it off and Elgeyo-Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos, the North Rift BBI coordinator, made the announcement.

Insisting yesterday that they were not going to allow their leader to be insulted right in his own backyard, allies of the DP, however, said violence was not in the works. Led by Soy MP Caleb Kositany, also the Jubilee Party’s deputy secretary-general, and his Keiyo South counterpart Daniel Rono, the lawmakers said that they are only opposed to the idea of submitting their memorandum to Mr Odinga.

“We were very ready for Eldoret BBI rally, no one was going to be disrupted, we want an inclusive rally where every leader will have an opportunity to speak, not like the other meetings which have taken place,” Mr Kositany said.

They maintained that the planning of any rally in the region will be spearheaded by all of them and not just a faction led by Governor Tolgos.

“We want to have a big say in organising the rally in our region because we know the issues we face as a region. So we want Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago to be included and to lead us in drafting a memorandum of key issues. Governor Tolgos can lead us in Iten if there will be a meeting there,” said Mr Kositany.

Mr Rono said disruption claims are the creation of the Governor Tolgos-led team after they realised that they could not organise the Eldoret meeting without the input of the local leaders.

“Those people are scared of nothing; they have realised that they won’t hold any meeting without involving us. They feared embarrassment and are now looking for an excuse, BBI is on its death bed,” Mr Rono said.

This comes even as Governor Mandago remains tight-lipped about the ongoing BBI debate.

On Friday, Uasin Gishu County Commissioner Abdirisack Jaldesa said police were ready to provide security and other requisite logistics when called upon.

“People should not fear. In case there will be any BBI rally within, we will be ready to provide security when they tell us the date,” Mr Jaldesa said.

Now the BBI team will converge in Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium on the same day.

President Kenyatta’s absence from the rallies has complicated the equation for the organisers, especially in traditional Jubilee strongholds, with some of the politicians giving the rallies a wide berth.

After Meru, Mr Odinga announced that they would be in Eldoret, Nakuru, Nyeri and Isiolo before winding up in Nairobi.

Before the cancellation, ODM secretary-general Edwin Sifuna had admitted that prospects of violence were high but vowed that they would nonetheless proceed with the rally.

No less a person than DP Ruto also registered his unhappiness with the decision to cancel the meeting.

“Why is ODM afraid of Eldoret? Rift Valley is peaceful like never before. Gone are times when Kalenjins were Raila’s goons,” he said in a tweet.

But the BBI team sought to downplay fears of violence.

“Having one in Nakuru, and again another in Eldoret would have been a bit misplaced,” said Paul Mwangi, a secretary to the BBI secretariat.

Additional Reporting by Onyango K’Onyango