The cunning Deputy President William Ruto knew his ICC fixers before elections and had entered a deal with TNA hoping to get access to the cache of evidence which the NSIS had provided Waki commission from where the ICC list, initially contained in the “Annan Envelope†which former Kenyan mediator delivered to the ICC then Prosecutor Loius Moreno Ocampo.
Multiple sources are convinced Ruto, as claimed by internal PS Mutea Iringo, is playing politics.
At the eve of the last elections, Ruto was rumoured to have met Raila Odinga for a possible pre-election deal. However, the ever scheming Deputy President later shocked the whole expectant Kalenjin land when he eventually chose to work with Uhuru.
At a meeting in Eldoret Sports Club, Ruto informed the Kalenjin community that an alliance with Raila, though was possible that they could win the 2013 elections, did not guarantee that they could get to power.
He told Kalenjins then that the same people who rigged them out of the 2007 power were still in charge of the state apparatus and that the elections would still be rigged, especially with the ICC cases and the fear of the 2007 post-poll violence evidence getting into Raila’s hands.
Ruto then sought to reassure a community which had by then not warmed up to supporting Uhuru to bet on him. Around the same time, he (Ruto) took a group of selected Kalenjin elders to Mombasa where the old men were treated to exotic coastal tourist-like living. After bathing with hot shower, drinking from Dasani and eating an assortment of high quality meals prepared by trained chefs from Utalii college, the elders finally blessed the Uhuruto union.
Community brainwashing then begun in earnest.
Suffice to say, in all these meetings and machinations, millions of shillings changed hands; with most of it being sponsored by the ‘liquid’ Uhuru Kenyatta’s political war-chest: a special fund that was set-up to bankroll Uhuru Kenyatta campaign. The same fund was used to send Musalia Mudavadi to political irrelevance by fully financing UDF campaigns.
Ruto’s turnaround has startled the Mt Kenya Mafia. However, its murky politics goes deep; and begins at the very root of the formation of the Jubilee Alliance.
Uhuru and Ruto had agreed to win the presidency with the major and singular purpose of clearing their names from the ICC cases. They would use the executive power to destroy all evidence which was delivered to Waki by the state. They would not leave any stone, unturned.
However, releasing all the evidence is turning out to be a nightmare, especially for the Deputy President. Uhuru and Mt Kenya Mafia is looking at 2017 and the potential damage that Ruto’s rise (he is already the Deputy President) portends for the future survival of Kikuyu politics. And with the Kikuyu scattered everywhere in the Rift-valley, William Ruto is the last man the Mafia would wants to see at State House. But this is for another day!
When the NSIS refused to give Ruto all the evidence it provided the Waki Commission, while the same body is said to have done everything to destroy both the evidence and witnesses in the Uhuru case, Ruto got alarmed and summoned his right-hand man, Kericho Senator Charles Keter.
“He confided in Senator Keter, his most trusted political friend, of the new challenge in getting his share of evidence,†an aide to the DP shared with this writer. “It was part of their agreement. Both were to put their hands in the evidence given to the ICC by the state,†he added.
Senator Keter, ever rebellious, last Monday uncharacteristically tore in the government functionaries whom he alleged engaged in the conspiracy to fabricate evidence for the Deouty President. Keter’s bluff has alarmed Mt Kenya as they are aware his very closeness with the Deputy President.
Earlier, Ruto’s defence team openly mentioned a number of senior people high in government pecking order as those who nailed Ruto. This was tactiful and deliberate. Ruto wanted his base to understand those they are up against. Throughout his trial, Ruto has sought to minimally mention CORD leader Raila Odinga despite Tinga being the man they sold jointly sold as the one who took them to the Hague.
Without Tinga, the defence team of Ruto is building a new legal, and political narrative. It is the political narrative that continue to boomarang here at home.
In senior intelligence quarters, Ruto is said to be already consolidating his URP wing with a possible break-away. It is believed that Ruto met Raila Odinga recently in Addis Ababa. Also, sources indicate that the Deputy President bankrolled Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba’s petition where he (Ruto) paid for the retainer of the legislator’s lawyer. Namwamba won that case!
In Bungoma senate elections, the Deputy President is said to have instructed his URP base to throw their weight behind CORD’s Moses Wetangula.
To the Mt. Kenya Mafia, Ruto is playing political games with the ICC issue. He was briefed about the ICC cases and secretly they have often aided him in exposing most of the Ruto witnesses who ended their cooperation with the ICC, however, Ruto’s demands for the evidence that the NSIS gave to Waki highly offended this group, because they see where the ever cunning Deputy President is headed.
Remember, Ruto is a marathoner, and as his other sidekick, Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen said yesterday, “there was no agreement that Uhuru will be president for 10 yearsâ€. In 2017, expect Samoei Arap Ruto on the ballot!