HOW RUTO CHEATED RIFT VALLEY AT NAIVASHA

[adongo23456]

tactician,

No problem.

Now I have to run too.

[adongo23456]

Meanwhile it is total chaos in Rift Valley as Ruto finds himself in a very awkward situation as Kibaki tours Rift Valley. This was supposed to be more fun than this. This was supposed to be Raila bashing time. Talk about the Tower of Babel!

Now almost everybody seems to be forced to accept Raila's position and the wananchi are puzzled and may be amused as they watch the president telling them to vote Yes and in the same rally Ruto is at pains asking for amendments and preaching a NO vote. Citizens must be wondering what is going on. Kalonzo is trying to walk on both sides of the road and Bett is getting ready to change his mind. Certainly this is not the tour Ruto had in mind. Just a total mess.

www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000007740&cid=4&ttl=Kibaki,%20Raila%20dash%20hopes%20of%20amending%20draft

[mzee]

Apr 14, 2010 22:34:39 GMT 3 adongo23456 said:

Meanwhile it is total chaos in Rift Valley as Ruto finds himself in a very awkward situation as Kibaki tours Rift Valley. This was supposed to be more fun than this. This was supposed to be Raila bashing time. Talk about the Tower of Babel!

Now almost everybody seems to be forced to accept Raila's position and the wananchi are puzzled and may be amused as they watch the president telling them to vote Yes and in the same rally Ruto is at pains asking for amendments and preaching a NO vote. Citizens must be wondering what is going on. Kalonzo is trying to walk on both sides of the road and Bett is getting ready to change his mind. Certainly this is not the tour Ruto had in mind. Just a total mess.

www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000007740&cid=4&ttl=Kibaki,%20Raila%20dash%20hopes%20of%20amending%20draft

Adongo,
WSR is in a complete mess, he does not know what to do. Having messed up in Naivasha, the only way to redeem his image amongst "his" people is to pretend to support the NO campaign.

Mark my words, I really dont think that there will be any NO campaign by WSR. Its still born just like KKK, going around the country to collect money for IDP´s, planting trees in every village etc promises that he made but never saw the light of day.

Now his "buddy" kibaki is telling him to his face that he will not be with him in the NO campaign. WSR has been made a fool of and he knows. I thought that UK lent him Mbugua kumbe wapi, he is now left with kuttuny. What a pity. Kajudas as always has done a judas on him. Balala has been forced by the people at the coast to move to the YES camp.

What WSR thought was going to be the beginning of his grand march to the state house has turned into a nightmare. What a fool. He had a chance and he lost it

[politicalmaniac]

Apr 14, 2010 23:01:04 GMT 3 mzee said:

.

Mark my words, I really dont think that there will be any NO campaign by WSR.

I thought that UK lent him Mbugua kumbe wapi, he is now left with kuttuny. What a pity. Kajudas as always has done a judas on him. Balala has been forced by the people at the coast to move to the YES camp.

What WSR thought was going to be the beginning of his grand march to the state house has turned into a nightmare. What a fool. He had a chance and he lost it

I think ruto thought that he could play the same game of defiance he played with his on and off mentor kipkorios, when he engaged ODM in a running never ending political battle.

Kumbe wapi!

As for jomo jnr, some here wrote that he escorted ruto with a sharp panga blow on his back and left for kiambu. jomo jnr has said he is not against the draft, But neither is he for it. He is busy with "development". I want to know what these project are at the end of 30 days. Thats leadership right there, juja style!

What a jerk!

Noise makers like balala will be history soon. They need to go. Kazi ya bure, hawana msimamo.

As for the double dipping Judas KM, its his character to shirk away from "contentious" issues. Did he not run away from the vote on Bomas, and SEC 2A. I am not surprised that he is waffling on this, on MAU, and kadhalika.

[sunday]

The daily nation just placed him where he belongs.

Leaders who were party to Naivasha deal now turn back on their proposals

After the Naivasha retreat, members of Parliament declared that they had reached a deal on the new constitution.

They had settled on a pure presidential system, two-tier structure of government -- national and county -- and representation.

Now some of the PSC members, notably Agriculture minister William Ruto, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and MPs Isaac Ruto (Chepalungu) and Peter Munya (Tigania East) have made a dramatic about-turn against what they had agreed on during the 11-day retreat.

Minister Ruto is leading the No campaign against the draft while Mr Kenyatta has opted to take the "middle ground."

"You will not see me traversing the country campaigning for Yes or No," he said on Tuesday in a statement widely circulated to media houses.

Before Mr Kenyatta decided to take the middle ground position, he had used two occasions in the past two weeks to support the draft.

At a church function in Tumutumu, he asked Kenyans to support the draft. And during celebrations to mark Vice-Presi dent Kalonzo Musyoka’s 25 years in Par- liament on Saturday, he said it was time to close the chapter on the constitution by voting for it.

Mr Musyoka is the other politician who has been shifting positions on the draft.

Immediately after the draft was passed, he teamed up with Mr Ruto, calling for changes to the Review Act to create time for amendments to the draft before the referendum.

But at the weekend, he asked those op- posed to the draft to support it, pointing out that changes can be made later.

On his part, Mr Ruto, who is leading a group of MPs largely from Rift Valley to reject the draft, is calling for amendments to the chapter on devolution to include regions and wants more checks on what he calls “an imperial presidency.” The Committee of Experts had suggested a three-tier government — national, regional and county — but the PSC deleted the regions.

Mr Ruto, who wants the regions re-
tained, also says the draft had created an imperial presidency contrary to the wishes of Kenyans. "The president, as recommended, has more powers than a king.
They are enormous," he says.

And Mr Munya, a member of the PNU team in Naivasha which had lauded settlement on the presidential system as a major victory for their party, now says the draft had created "a super imperial presidency."

However, in the Naivasha talks, it is the Eldoret North MP who proposed the presidential system. He was seconded by Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi.

ODM chairman Henry Kosgey, an ally of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, accuses some leaders who were "bought like mandazi" in Naivasha of turning against the draft. ODM leaders said the party made the concession to secure their PNU colleagues' support for devolution. But things didn't go as planned because even though the PNU group supported devolution, the regions were rejected.

Soma hapa

[mzee]

Apr 14, 2010 23:45:32 GMT 3 politicalmaniac said:

Apr 14, 2010 23:01:04 GMT 3 mzee said:

.

Mark my words, I really dont think that there will be any NO campaign by WSR.

I thought that UK lent him Mbugua kumbe wapi, he is now left with kuttuny. What a pity. Kajudas as always has done a judas on him. Balala has been forced by the people at the coast to move to the YES camp.

What WSR thought was going to be the beginning of his grand march to the state house has turned into a nightmare. What a fool. He had a chance and he lost it

I think ruto thought that he could play the same game of defiance he played with his on and off mentor kipkorios, when he engaged ODM in a running never ending political battle.

Kumbe wapi!

As for jomo jnr, some here wrote that he escorted ruto with a sharp panga blow on his back and left for kiambu. jomo jnr has said he is not against the draft, But neither is he for it. He is busy with "development". I want to know what these project are at the end of 30 days. Thats leadership right there, juja style!

What a jerk!

Noise makers like balala will be history soon. They need to go. Kazi ya bure, hawana msimamo.

As for the double dipping Judas KM, its his character to shirk away from "contentious" issues. Did he not run away from the vote on Bomas, and SEC 2A. I am not surprised that he is waffling on this, on MAU, and kadhalika.

PM,
Jomo jnr aka the Butcher of Naivasha is being clever by half. Yaani he is still on the kinanda, playing WSR day and night. After doing his thing on WSR in Naivasha, just like WSR, he is now pretending not to be supportive of his own proposals. Talk about being half clever. He is neither supporting nor opposing the draft yet there are only "YES" and "NO" alternatives at the referendum. How does a middle grounder vote? What else? He wont traverse the country campaigning. He he he, so what? What difference would it have made anyways. His would have been of sentimental value only.

So he wants a way of soothing WSR ego so as to join him in the fight against R once the draft has been passed? Good for both men. UK is a playa.

[tactician]

Apr 15, 2010 5:23:48 GMT 3 @sunday said:

The daily nation just placed him where he belongs.

Leaders who were party to Naivasha deal now turn back on their proposals

After the Naivasha retreat, members of Parliament declared that they had reached a deal on the new constitution.

They had settled on a pure presidential system, two-tier structure of government -- national and county -- and representation.

Now some of the PSC members, notably Agriculture minister William Ruto, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and MPs Isaac Ruto (Chepalungu) and Peter Munya (Tigania East) have made a dramatic about-turn against what they had agreed on during the 11-day retreat.

Minister Ruto is leading the No campaign against the draft while Mr Kenyatta has opted to take the "middle ground."

"You will not see me traversing the country campaigning for Yes or No," he said on Tuesday in a statement widely circulated to media houses.

Before Mr Kenyatta decided to take the middle ground position, he had used two occasions in the past two weeks to support the draft.

At a church function in Tumutumu, he asked Kenyans to support the draft. And during celebrations to mark Vice-Presi dent Kalonzo Musyoka’s 25 years in Par- liament on Saturday, he said it was time to close the chapter on the constitution by voting for it.

Mr Musyoka is the other politician who has been shifting positions on the draft.

Immediately after the draft was passed, he teamed up with Mr Ruto, calling for changes to the Review Act to create time for amendments to the draft before the referendum.

But at the weekend, he asked those op- posed to the draft to support it, pointing out that changes can be made later.

On his part, Mr Ruto, who is leading a group of MPs largely from Rift Valley to reject the draft, is calling for amendments to the chapter on devolution to include regions and wants more checks on what he calls “an imperial presidency.” The Committee of Experts had suggested a three-tier government — national, regional and county — but the PSC deleted the regions.

Mr Ruto, who wants the regions re-
tained, also says the draft had created an imperial presidency contrary to the wishes of Kenyans. "The president, as recommended, has more powers than a king.
They are enormous," he says.

And Mr Munya, a member of the PNU team in Naivasha which had lauded settlement on the presidential system as a major victory for their party, now says the draft had created "a super imperial presidency."

However, in the Naivasha talks, it is the Eldoret North MP who proposed the presidential system. He was seconded by Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi.

ODM chairman Henry Kosgey, an ally of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, accuses some leaders who were "bought like mandazi" in Naivasha of turning against the draft. ODM leaders said the party made the concession to secure their PNU colleagues' support for devolution. But things didn't go as planned because even though the PNU group supported devolution, the regions were rejected.

Soma hapa

PSC did NOT delete the regions.

It was the CoE that deleted regions before handing over the RHDC to the PSC.

CoE decided to delete regions/provinces after the public demanded they be removed.

The PSC simply could not agree on regions so they decided to stick with counties as suggested by CoE.

Please read the drafts for yourself people!

Otherwise, having a constitution without constitutionalism is even worse than our great grandfathers who had no written katiba but everyone in society knew what the governance processes were!

[tactician]

Apr 15, 2010 9:05:58 GMT 3 mzee said:

Apr 14, 2010 23:45:32 GMT 3 politicalmaniac said:

I think ruto thought that he could play the same game of defiance he played with his on and off mentor kipkorios, when he engaged ODM in a running never ending political battle.

Kumbe wapi!

As for jomo jnr, some here wrote that he escorted ruto with a sharp panga blow on his back and left for kiambu. jomo jnr has said he is not against the draft, But neither is he for it. He is busy with "development". I want to know what these project are at the end of 30 days. Thats leadership right there, juja style!

What a jerk!

Noise makers like balala will be history soon. They need to go. Kazi ya bure, hawana msimamo.

As for the double dipping Judas KM, its his character to shirk away from "contentious" issues. Did he not run away from the vote on Bomas, and SEC 2A. I am not surprised that he is waffling on this, on MAU, and kadhalika.

PM,
Jomo jnr aka the Butcher of Naivasha is being clever by half. Yaani he is still on the kinanda, playing WSR day and night. After doing his thing on WSR in Naivasha, just like WSR, he is now pretending not to be supportive of his own proposals. Talk about being half clever. He is neither supporting nor opposing the draft yet there are only "YES" and "NO" alternatives at the referendum. How does a middle grounder vote? What else? He wont traverse the country campaigning. He he he, so what? What difference would it have made anyways. His would have been of sentimental value only.

So he wants a way of soothing WSR ego so as to join him in the fight against R once the draft has been passed? Good for both men. UK is a playa.

I think most pundits underestimate Uhuru....only now they are beginning to see his unsung political skills.

If you ask me, Uhuru knows the draft is as good as passed.

What he is preparing is softening the ground for himself among the kalenjin.

he knows too well that we shall most probably have a run off in the presidential election.

And those kalenjin votes may decide the winner.

Think about it

[mtumishiman]

Apr 15, 2010 9:37:54 GMT 3 tactician said:

Apr 15, 2010 9:05:58 GMT 3 mzee said:

I think most pundits underestimate Uhuru....only now they are beginning to see his unsung political skills.

If you ask me, Uhuru knows the draft is as good as passed.

What he is preparing is softening the ground for himself among the kalenjin.

he knows too well that we shall most probably have a run off in the presidential election.

And those kalenjin votes may decide the winner.

Think about it

Jomo jnr will soon be a guest at The Hague. He is irrelevant in this Yes/No campaign.

[tactician]

Apr 15, 2010 9:53:33 GMT 3 mtumishiman said:

Apr 15, 2010 9:37:54 GMT 3 tactician said:

Apr 15, 2010 9:05:58 GMT 3 mzee said:

I think most pundits underestimate Uhuru....only now they are beginning to see his unsung political skills.

If you ask me, Uhuru knows the draft is as good as passed.

What he is preparing is softening the ground for himself among the kalenjin.

he knows too well that we shall most probably have a run off in the presidential election.

And those kalenjin votes may decide the winner.

Think about it

Jomo jnr will soon be a guest at The Hague. He is irrelevant in this Yes/No campaign.

Wow..i didn't know that Ocampo has already picked fellas up....

And just who is relevant in the yes/no campaign?

my thoughts - if uhuru is going to hague, expect kibaki land there before him

[Luol Deng]

Tactician,

The political skills that you are talking about are way overestimated. What Uhuru did was to take advantage of the split in ODM to advance his agenda. With Ruto behaving like a jilted lover, it was not difficult to take advantage of him. When someone is enjoying the largesse of his late parents and the ruling party all at the same time then you don't have much thinking to do. Creating a convenient coalition to trim Raila to size is the easy bit, coming up with a unified platform and a single candidate for the elections is the hard bit.

We all know that after the 2007 elections the ethnic relations between the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin have forever been altered and it is wishful thinking to expect them to back each other in a general election. Which brings in the issue of the compromise candidate. The central Kenyan politicians have expressed that having a candidate from the province will undermine their chances because of voter fatigue, central Kenya voters can also not be expected to vote for Ruto because of 2007. So, then comes Kalonzo the miracle man, he has been trying to reach out to both the Kalenjin and Kikuyu blocs an idea to that effect was floated in a recent meeting.

The calculation in making Kalonzo the candidate may be fueled by the expectation that he will be a Medvedev like character who essentially acts as a placeholder for Vladimir Putin. At best Kalonzo will be a Mwanawasa like character who depended entirely on Chiluba for the campaign machinery only to become his own man once in power. Anyway, this alliance is still in its infancy and whether it will survive to mount a presidential bid remains to be seen.

[shifta]

I agree with Tactician when he says that:
"Uhuru knows the draft is as good as passed. What he is preparing is softening the ground for himself among the kalenjin."

In politics you never underestimate one side. I think in this case Uhuru played Ruto like a mugithi master. He had to deliver for his constituency, which means no re-introduction of majimbo after CoE scrapped it, and he did it with Ruto's help. I can not blame him for that. What I do not understand is what did he give up to get Ruto on his side? As far as I can tell, nothing, that is a master stroke or luck or fate or all combined.

However, his quandary is that having gotten the prezzo system and no majimbo, which means no lifeline for for bwana ugatuzi aka Ruto to campaign on, how does he then sell himself in Kalenjin RV? His answer seems to be "act like you were never there" (simimi) approach, and hope they forget. That likewise is a tough sell.

[Luol Deng]

shifta,

I don't see it as such. Uhuru cannot go all out for the draft because he knows that the land bit of the constitution will be a bitter pill to swallow for his family. And besides, how much will he soften the Kalenjin side with the memory of 2007/08 still fresh in the minds of both sides?

[politicalmaniac]

Apr 15, 2010 17:36:23 GMT 3 @shifta said:

I agree with Tactician when he says that:
"Uhuru knows the draft is as good as passed. What he is preparing is softening the ground for himself among the kalenjin."

In politics you never underestimate one side. I think in this case Uhuru played Ruto like a mugithi master. He had to deliver for his constituency, which means no re-introduction of majimbo after CoE scrapped it, and he did it with Ruto's help. I can not blame him for that. What I do not understand is what did he give up to get Ruto on his side? As far as I can tell, nothing, that is a master stroke or luck or fate or all combined.

However, his quandary is that having gotten the prezzo system and no majimbo, which means no lifeline for for bwana ugatuzi aka Ruto to campaign on, how does he then sell himself in Kalenjin RV? His answer seems to be "act like you were never there" (simimi) approach, and hope they forget. That likewise is a tough sell.

I dont agree that the callous cowardly reckless blatant chickening out by jomo jnr, running away from picking a side on the proposed draft, is a stroke of genius. It will do exactly zero for him in Kalenjin land.

First of all, what the Kalenjin hate are cowards.

We are talking about one of the most feared Nation tribes in all of East and Central.

Their are a proud pople who take a political stand, one way or another, and stick with it. In 2002 they took a stand with kikorios and jomo jnr. They got burnt.

In 2007 they took a stand with the Prime Minister, unfortunately this time around, the man they supported in 2002, jomo jnr STOLE the darned election and killed off their aspirations. And further more the mungiki youth sponsored by jomo jnr, did kill various folks in RV. That is not a plus for jomo jnr.

Also jomo jnr dad, a man who appetite for land could never be satisfied, stole a lot of Kalenjin land for himself and his people. This is a very bad legacy, that cant be papered over.

If jomo jnr really wanted to mend fences in RV, then he should have joined ruto, hata kama the move was suicidal.

But he made a deal with ruto, broke the deal, and left ruto all alone.

Think the Kalenjin Nation are happy about this?

What did jomo jnr agree to give ruto, so that ruto killed the aspirations of his people. That needs to be explored!

[shifta]

Luoldeng and pm, actually on land issues, the katiba simply says that parliament will set a ceiling, but it does not say whether that is retroactive. I would be very suprised if it is. Like you I am skeptical about "his soft landing" as tactician claims, that is why he is sitting on the fence accumulating splinters. One thing is for sure though - he played Ruto. Whether it was genius or luck I do not know, but play him he did.

[politicalmaniac]

Apr 15, 2010 23:54:43 GMT 3 @shifta said:

Luoldeng and pm, actually on land issues, the katiba simply says that parliament will set a ceiling, but it does not say whether that is retroactive. I would be very suprised if it is. Like you I am skeptical about "his soft landing" as tactician claims, that is why he is sitting on the fence accumulating splinters. One thing is for sure though - he played Ruto. Whether it was genius or luck I do not know, but play him he did.

The Prime Minister, R said that holdings over 10000 will have to be put to use or confiscated? I think he said something tothat effect, I am not sure.

[mzee]

Apr 15, 2010 20:48:06 GMT 3 politicalmaniac said:

Apr 15, 2010 17:36:23 GMT 3 @shifta said:

I agree with Tactician when he says that:
"Uhuru knows the draft is as good as passed. What he is preparing is softening the ground for himself among the kalenjin."

In politics you never underestimate one side. I think in this case Uhuru played Ruto like a mugithi master. He had to deliver for his constituency, which means no re-introduction of majimbo after CoE scrapped it, and he did it with Ruto's help. I can not blame him for that. What I do not understand is what did he give up to get Ruto on his side? As far as I can tell, nothing, that is a master stroke or luck or fate or all combined.

However, his quandary is that having gotten the prezzo system and no majimbo, which means no lifeline for for bwana ugatuzi aka Ruto to campaign on, how does he then sell himself in Kalenjin RV? His answer seems to be "act like you were never there" (simimi) approach, and hope they forget. That likewise is a tough sell.

I dont agree that the callous cowardly reckless blatant chickening out by jomo jnr, running away from picking a side on the proposed draft, is a stroke of genius. It will do exactly zero for him in Kalenjin land.

First of all, what the Kalenjin hate are cowards.

We are talking about one of the most feared Nation tribes in all of East and Central.

Their are a proud pople who take a political stand, one way or another, and stick with it. In 2002 they took a stand with kikorios and jomo jnr. They got burnt.

In 2007 they took a stand with the Prime Minister, unfortunately this time around, the man they supported in 2002, jomo jnr STOLE the darned election and killed off their aspirations. And further more the mungiki youth sponsored by jomo jnr, did kill various folks in RV. That is not a plus for jomo jnr.

Also jomo jnr dad, a man who appetite for land could never be satisfied, stole a lot of Kalenjin land for himself and his people. This is a very bad legacy, that cant be papered over.

If jomo jnr really wanted to mend fences in RV, then he should have joined ruto, hata kama the move was suicidal.

But he made a deal with ruto, broke the deal, and left ruto all alone.

Think the Kalenjin Nation are happy about this?

What did jomo jnr agree to give ruto, so that ruto killed the aspirations of his people. That needs to be explored!

PM,
Kweli kabisa,
What did Uhuru give Ruto mpaka aka wauza watu wake kama samaki? We must go to the bottom of this.

[job]

[sunday]

Apr 16, 2010 22:49:56 GMT 3 job said:

Leave some time for me! ;D ;D ;D ;D
That got me cracking

Beatrice is not a good interviewer.
I wish they had Luis

[Titchaz]

Apr 16, 2010 22:49:56 GMT 3 job said:

Wakuu wa Jukwaa,

ijapokua huyu Martha Karua nilikua simpendi, hapa leo lazima nimpe
tano ya nguvu maana amemshikia Ruto bango na kuweka kinaga
naga yaliyojiri kule Niavasha. Ni kweli na wazi kwamba Ruto alifungwa
goli la kisigino na Uhuru na hlii fujo lote analopiga ni wimbo kwa kwaya,
hamna jipya! Kisha mbona hawakuweza kuafikiana mbungeni pale
walipokua na nafasi ya kufanya hivyo?

Yaani nikitazama kumbukumbu sioni mbinu mpya ambayo hawa
wabunge watakayokuja nayo kuleta makubaliano. Jamaa za mitaa
ya kati walishasema wazi kua hawatokubali majimbo na jamaa za Bonde
la Ufa wametilia shinikizo hili swala wakifuatiwa na watu wa Pwani lakini
si kwa kasi sawa.Je wataelewana vipi kufikia muafaka? Kisha ukitilia
maanani kua lazima wafikia 3/4 ya idadi ya hawa "wabunge njaa" tulionao.
Hii ngoma ndo ishatoka mzeiya. Subiri watu wapige kura kisha tuangalie usawa mwengine.

Nimependa pale Karua alipomwambia mtangazaji "Leave some time for me"... ;D

...unajua wazi alikua na lake jambo alilotaka kumwaga jukwaani. Haya ndio
yale ya "bwaga mboga nibwage Ugali". Mheshimwa Ruto, ferry ishaondoka
na abiria juu.Awamu hii unakibarua cha kurudisha dawa ya mswaki
ndani ya tyubu!!!!...

Mambo ni mswano kwa watu wa YES.

Swadaktaa

[politicalmaniac]

Ruto has a lot of 'splaining' to do.

Lazima apatiwe pressure sawa sawa to explain what he did and why. This guy has messed up not only his constituents but the whole ODM fraternity, and the country.

[tnk]

Apr 16, 2010 22:49:56 GMT 3 job said:

what a mess

opportunity 1 - when ODM called for discussion on common front the rutos and balalas were "too busy" on "development issues". i hear now uhuru is also on development issues and couldn't care less for either the no or yes vote

opportunity 2 - at naivasha the PSC could have reached consensus on issues agreed upon, and raise red flags to be debated in parliament and if not agreed on, discussed by the public in the period to referendum in order to make informed choice, and finally put to the vote. instead they were on a meat market (or auction) cutting deals and selling to the highest bidder while scoring political short term convenient goals (and i must say really really short lived as we have seen already)

opprtunity 3 - they had over 20 days to debate in the house the issues they are now debating with karua. we here on jukwaa many times raised this issue and wanted them to take debate to the floor of the house all these issues but instead they again chose to go behind doors at k.i.a and squandered the opportunity to carry out that debate - not just pathetic but totally rudderless leadership. ruto in particular failed to team up with ODM and prefer to be the lone-ranger in cahoots with an outlaw (from ODM perspective) side-kick in the name of uhuru

notwithstanding they had opportunity like every other individual or group to present opinion to CoE at different stages and if they did or did not, the CoE aggregated all the opinions

its a bitter pill but he needs to realise the time for circumspection by leadership was squandered, and now the ball is rolling towards the most significant milestone i.e decision making by the ballot

if these guys are real leaders, they need to be developing new strategies on the next steps to take in the event NO or YES prevails.

we need to keep moving forward not backtracking all the time and living in history.

if i were ruto i would at this time be mending fences in ODM (although i do recall some wise guy RV mp making the remark that they had burnt all their bridges and had no more interest in ODM)

side note:

am a little perplexed by the PNU side going silent on the YES campaign and instead letting raila and ODM carry this baby.

reminds me of the mau saga. it would appear that PNU develops cold feet really fast and throw ODM or raila under the bus at the first sign of trouble (or as someone puts it, let the other fellows go ahead and take the flak)

its actually the hallmark of kibaki, indecisiveness, (dont butter any side) kalonzo does one better, butter both sides of the bread

regardless, i like whats unfolding, i.e the public is actually getting exposed to sections of the constitution and getting a better or at least some understanding of its content. and that is a good thing.

btw - is karua once again becoming the defender of .....

is history really going to repeat itself so quickly as we watch?

[kaburwo]

The amendment to Article 65 was moved by Isaac Ruto. This is Article 65:

Landholding by non-citizens
65. (1) A person who is not a citizen may hold land on the basis of leasehold tenure only, and any such lease, however granted, shall not exceed ninety-nine years.
(2) If a provision of any agreement, deed, conveyance or document of whatever nature purports to confer on a person who is not a citizen an interest in land greater than a ninety-nine year lease, the provision shall be regarded as conferring on the person a ninety-nine year leasehold interest, and no more.
(3) For purposes of this Article –
(a) a body corporate shall be regarded as a citizen only if the body
corporate is wholly owned by one or more citizens; and
(b) property held in trust shall be regarded as being held by a citizen only
if all of the beneficial interest of the trust is held by persons who are
citizens.
(4) Parliament may enact legislation to make further provision for the operation of this Article.

www.coekenya.go.ke/images/stories/Resources/proposed_constitution_submitted_to_psc_by_coe_23_02_2010.pdf

Now see the motive behind the amendment. Does his constituency and the Kalenjin of Nandi Hills and Kericho who have large British Tea farms in their backyard know that Isaac Ruto was not serving them with this amendment?

Foreign link to the clash over land

When a major British donor agency suddenly withdrew its financial support to Kenya’s land reforms in 2007, accusing fingers immediately pointed to a local lobby of land owners believed to enjoy international connections.

People familiar with the formulation of the national land policy say the group successfully lobbied the British Department for International Development (DfID) and Parliament to stop funding the activities of civil society organisations and pay experts involved in the process.

“They went up to the House of Lords in 2006 to argue that the land policy was against the interests of British citizens and that the British taxpayers’ money should therefore not be used to finance the process,” says Lumumba Odenda of the Kenya National Land Alliance, whose organisation was one of those affected by the decision to freeze funding by DfID.

The land policy was completed and adopted last year after the US international aid agency (USAID) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), among other donors, stepped in to support the final phases of the programme.

But the controversies over the quest for land reforms have resurfaced to fuel clashes over land in the ongoing public debate on the proposed constitution.

Allegations have started flying that some individuals and groups are pushing the agenda of people with foreign links in their campaign against the document.

Mr Odenda accuses the same group that attempted to frustrate efforts to draw up the land policy of being the hidden hand behind emerging campaigns by some politicians to portray the document as socialist and targeting large landowners.

Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto, who unsuccessfully moved amendments to the chapter on land, was recently reported as saying the draft is against land owners.

Mr Odenda says the group of wealthy landowners, who owe their claim to huge acreages to their colonial heritage and co-opted elements among Kenya’s ruling elite, are worried about articles in the chapter on land that bar foreigners from owning freehold land and restrict leases to 99 instead of 999 years.

Foreign interests in land in Kenya include large ranches, large-scale commercial farming estates owned by multinationals, tourist lodges in Rift Valley and prime beach plots at the Coast.

While people with links to British colonial settlement are believed to form the majority in the class of landowners with foreign links, their ranks has since swollen to include Americans, Germans and Italians who own tourist facilities at the Coast and the Dutch with interests in flower farms in places like Naivasha.

“It’s all blackmail. These are a few people who are putting their personal interests above that of millions of Kenyans who don’t own any land. The titles for the 999-year leases do not even exceed 1,000,” says Mr Odenda.

Chris Foot, the chairman of the Kenya Land Owners Association, which has come to be publicly identified with the powerful lobby, says their main problem with the proposed constitution is with the article on property rights which he argues removes automatic entitlement to compensation in the event the government decides to take over private land.

On compensation

Mr Foot accuses the Committee of Experts of ignoring the views presented to it by landowners in a memo and deleting provisions on compensation against the recommendations of the Parliamentary Select Committee in its revised draft.

“In all democracies worldwide, the government has to compensate you at market prices if it decides to take over your land,” he said.

Mr Foot and his group have also taken issue with the chapter on land, arguing it is anti-foreign investment and discriminatory against Kenyans with foreign relatives.

“If you are a Kenyan married to a foreigner, the government is likely to take your land. Similarly, a company that has a foreign shareholding might also be targeted,” claims Mr Foot.

Article 65 of the proposed constitution says a foreigner “may hold land on the basis of leasehold tenure only, and any such lease, however granted, shall not exceed ninety-nine years.”

And for a company to qualify as Kenyan it has to be wholly owned by one or more citizens, while property held in trust shall be regarded as being held by a citizen only if all of the beneficial interest of the trust is held by persons who are citizens.

Mr Foot says the issues of freehold land and compensation could expose Kenya to costly lawsuits in international courts if the proposed constitution is adopted in the referendum.

He cites a past case in which businessman Nasir Ali sued the government in an international court over the ownership of the World Duty-Free Shops to demonstrate the trouble Kenya could find itself in over the removal of compensation clause.

“The ramifications are costly because Kenya is a signatory to international treaties and the UN declaration of universal human rights. CoE’s Machiavellian agenda and socialist rhetoric has created a costly loophole that can be used to sue the government,” says Mr Foot.

But he denies that his organisation played any direct role in having the British government change its mind about supporting the land sector during the formulation of the national land policy.

But he is noncommittal on whether they had lobbied the British government and MPs to stop funds to the national land policy programme.

“We do not decide for donors what they do with their money, but we have a right to provide information to anybody, including donors, about what their money is being used for,” says Mr Foot.

“It is people who are talking about these things who should be asked such questions. The Kenya Land Owners Association is the only organisation working on land matters which is fully funded by Kenyans. The others should explain why they were taking money from foreigners to spend on the national land policy,” he says.

The Kenya Land Alliance received DfID funds to rally grassroots support around the issues of inheritance rights, access to land and communal tenure.

A British embassy official denied that the British had any vested interests in the policy or that the lobby influenced decisions by DfID on the matter. She also denied that they pulled out of the national land policy programme, saying their support only ended with the programme running its course in 2009.

“We did not have anything to do with the content of the land policy. The 500,000-pound funding of the programme between 2004 and 2009 was meant to enable as many Kenyans as possible participate in it or make it pro-poor,” she said.

The official cited provincial-level consultative meetings involving people with interest in the process paying technical experts drafting the document and the publication and distribution of the Ndung’u Commission report to the public among the activities that benefited from British funding.

Aside from the clause on land, it has also emerged that the ones on abortion and kadhis’ courts – the other fiercely contested issues in the document approved by Parliament early this month – have attracted the interest of foreign lobby groups.

Last Thursday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga told NTV’s Inside the Constitution talk show that several American congressmen and senators had written to his office asking him to intervene on either side of the pro-life versus the pro-choice debate.

While different American interest groups are active in pushing the agenda on specific issues, the country’s official position is believed to be informed by its foreign policy on the Horn of Africa region.

The policy sees Kenya as a crucial ally in the war on terrorism and seeks to promote efforts meant to achieve political stability and democracy in the country following the post-election violence in 2008. US President Barack Obama promptly praised the country for its commitment to constitutional reforms soon after the document was approved by Parliament on April 1.

In October last year Dr Michael Chelogoy, the deputy director of CoE that drafted the proposed constitution, was reported as accusing unnamed foreign donors of being behind the push by local civil rights organisations to have the kadhis’ courts listed among the disputed issues.

Dr Chelogoy’s statement appeared to confirm the long-held view that the rabidly Islamophobic American evangelicals who have affiliated their megachurches to local ones have been pulling the strings in the campaign against the inclusion of the kadhis’ courts.

[e-mail]

www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Foreign%20link%20to%20the%20clash%20over%20land%20%20/-/1064/901518/-/6x9t4jz/-/index.html

You can cheat some people some times, but you cannot cheat everybody every time.

Further reading: www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/525862/-/view/printVersion/-/5dh5lvz/-/index.html

and

www.scribd.com/doc/3107691/Kenya-Landowners-Federation-comments-on-the-Draft-National-Land-Policy

-Kaburwo-

[kaburwo]

William Ruto Using Referendum to Balkanize Kalenjins

The first word on William Ruto’s mouth after the PSC Naivasha retreat was to urge the Kalenjins to vote for the draft constitution once a referendum is called. He has since changed tune to a NO vote in the referendum after he saw an opportunity via the plebiscite to consolidate his support amongst the Kalenjins. To this end, he has embarked on a mission to make sure the Kalenjins vote differently from the rest of the country and therefore not only achieve this goal but also settle imaginary scores with Raila Odinga. The logic being, if Raila Odinga is in the YES camp, then Kalenjins must belong with the NO camp. William Ruto’s attitude towards Raila Odinga has metamorphosized in two years from unexplainable anger, to bitter hate and finally to outright obsession.

Read on......

sayafrica.blogspot.com/2010/04/william-ruto-using-referendum-to-balk.html

-Kaburwo-

[job]

Kaburwo,

That's right. The elite land burgeoisie which knows no ethnic or racial bounds works mysteriously.

On your insightful and well analysed essay on Ruto's metamorphosis and obsession with planting Kalenjins behind his fight with Raila, I will give comment a little later.

Back to your comments on land and the constitution - especially with Isaac Ruto's role.

The Briton, German, Italian, Gikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo or Kamba land aristocrat, sitting on fertile or prime swathes of land in Rift Valley, Coast (beachfronts) or Central are one solid fraternity.

Moi, Mutula, Michuki, Abraham Kiptanui, Basil Criticos, the Kenyattas, the Brookbonds, Chomondleys, Delamares, etc can all sit tight and hope that their hireling Isaac Ruto will eloquently and cunningly make their case for an amendment, in parliament, using populist language to confuse the ordinary, landless or land-starved holloi polloi of Rift Valley, Coast and Central.

Kumbe wapi!

They're attempting to dupe the poor voter yet again. This time with only limited success.

Time has come for land reforms, whether they like it or not.

As an Agenda 4 item, the international community (locally represented by Kofi Annan) understood following the PEV that land reforms were key to Kenya's future stability.

Locally, the ordinary Kenyan has come to understand that just few aristocrat families and dynasties (from all tribes and races) are the very persons standing on their aspirations to land ownership.

Peasants and the landless blindly following land aristocrats like the Kenyattas will soon realize that their own interests run in conflict with the purported political 'caretakers'.

Lands Minister James Orengo did not waste a minute in drafting a pragmatic land reform policy, hinged on the principles of; repossessing grabbed land, taxing idle land, empowering the State on land oversight, and putting maximum caps on ownership to remove anomalies such as one family owning land the size of a province.

With the public and international community breathing right by their ears, the policy was albeit reluctantly adopted by the cabinet, and motion on the historic land sessional paper passed in parliament.

We are now on the stage of giving it the constitutional framework necessary for the last step (which will be legislation of the specific statutory land laws).

We Kenyans are aware that even after the referendum, the same land oligarchs will use their lackeys like Isaac Ruto and William Ruto, to block this very last step of parliament legislation of specific reform oriented, pro-peasant, and pro-poor people land laws.

There is a theatre line now well known to Kenyans.

Whenever talks about land redistribution surface in the national discourse, the elite fraternity of land owners coalesce together irrespective of tribe, race or political affiliation.

Whenever Moi or Zakayo Cheruiyot are to be evicted from Mau State Forest land, Isaac Ruto and William Ruto, will be hired to make the most noise in and out of parliament, and Uhuru Kenyatta will use his hands on Kenya's Treasury while Mwai Kibaki using his clout in State House, will sabotage such pro-people and pro-environment evictions from within, while pretending to dance to the populist environmental conservation mugithi out in the public.

It's sophisticated playing of the game of political correctness.

This is why folks like Ruto will quickly use their clout in Kalenjin, to quickly and hurriedly form intra-parliamentary unions with the Kenyattas, Balalas (custodian of Sultan's coastal land interests) and Kalonzos, and give them misleading connotations such as inter-ethnic coalitions, like the KKK formation.

These in reality are no coalitions of tribal interests, but instead, coaltion of elite interests by a few aristocrats.

As a matter of fact, on the land issue, ordinary Kalenjin land interests don't merge with those represented by the Gikuyu elite pushing the KKK alliance.

Ruto and Uhuru want to pretend they are 'uniting' these two communities, when in reality, the ordinary folks at the ground, really know this is about Uhuru and Ruto's tumbos.

This is how Ruto and Uhuru tied the hands of poor taxpayers in the Mau eviction process, where the aristocrats insisted that even elite land grabbers who encroached into the forest illegally, must be compensated billions of shillings before they can move out of public land.

The same forces used Isaac Ruto as a mouthpiece to try forcing amendments into the draft constitution to safeguard their land interests against the ordinary people.

It failed.

Now they would rather the entire constitution document is voted out.

The two Rutos are yet again at it - doing what they lately do best - which is misleading their own Kalenjin people.

The have used this land issue to dupe their people yet again.

Like Moi, they are inciting the Kalenjin to get scared that the draft will: take away their land; remove land property protection and sanctity of title deeds; transfer community land to a grabbing monster (to quote William Ruto's own word), called the National Land Commission, sitting in Nairobi.

However, the truth is the exact opposite. This draft will help the Kalenjin peasantry more than any other community, in addressing long desired land redistributive reforms.

But for the few Kalenjins owning more than 10,000 acres each, like their British, German, Greek, Gikuyu or any other counterparts, this draft is an uncomfortable pill.

Yup, those few elites foreseeing the effects of this pill have now started once again using incendiary, inflammatory, and fear-mongering rhetoric. Isaac Ruto and William Ruto are at in everyday on radio waves. Moi is using different language, plain raw, claiming the draft is foreign and will bring chaos because land is a sensitive and emotive issue.

The truth is that repossessing Moi's swathes of grabbed land, or taxing his idle land, will be a painfully emotive and sensitive matter only for him as an individual, wheras a joyously emotive and happy moment to thousands who will benefit from redistributive and taxation policies on big land holdings.

Moi, Michuki, foreign land owners, and the Kenyattas are against this draft because it specifically threatens their hold on large parcels of land.

They don't want much details about land matters inserted in the constitution, which is the supreme law of our land.

They would rather ambiguities and vagueness on land laws, and nothing on it in the constitution, which they can then use (as usual) to their advantage, whenever questions arise.

They are masters of our rotten judicial system, remember.

Deep down his heart, Uhuru Kenyatta wants the draft rejected, he actually inadvertently admitted this in a recent interview (whether a faux pas, or intentionally I don't know).

Uhuru is seething mad that the CoE changed a lot of what he designed at Naivasha.

He is now pretending to be intensely busy with 'development' issues as he keeps off the referendum campaigns while secretly backing the NO vote.

Uhuru used his superior political bureaucracy and cunningness to outmanouvre the relatively inept and cantankerous William Ruto and thereby kill Majimbo in the draft, and dismantle Rift Valley province altogether.

Uhuru Kenyatta and the PSC also killed the populist CoE land reform proposals in the draft at Naivasha.

I will always contend that the prime driver of the Naivasha retreat was Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta - backed by his cousin Beth Mugo, who was actually attending these PSC meetings despite not even being a PSC member.

Looking at what came out of Naivasha PSC retreat, both Uhuru the land aristocrat , and Uhuru the GEMA politician , scored big in this context;

- Uhuru the land aristocrat teamed with Rift Valley land aristocrats to ensure they (a) mutilated CoE proposals removing land grabbers from protection clauses by the bill of rights (b) mutilated CoE clauses in the land chapter that introduced room for taxing idle land and placing minimum and maximum caps on land ownership (redistribution threat).

In this, the Kenyatta family (represented by Uhuru & Beth Mugo) were happy their humongus land holdings would be secure and free from future redistribution threats or taxation regimes.

They were joined in this short-lived celebration by the Mois, William and Isaac Rutos, Zakayo Cheruiyots and the various foreign commercial land owners facing similar land redistribution fears.

- Uhuru the GEMA supremo and politician, managed the unthinkable on a February afternoon in Naivasha when he was able to seal a masterstroke deal that tagged the green-horned William Ruto along, to embrace the PNU ideal combo-package of: no regional majimbo; no Rift Valley province; tweaking constituency boundaries to make representation based on population; and on top of that, a pure presidential system as an icing to the cake.

It was BINGO!

From Naivasha, both Uhuru the politician, and Uhuru the land aristocrat had won big against Kenyan taxpayers, peasants, the landless (especially in Rift Valley, Central and Coast), and those with aspirations for Majimbo. He was joined in celebrating this victory against Kenyans by William Ruto, who spoke of the 'great Naivasha compromise.

On top of that, the duo celebrated another 'victory' against those keen on a parliamentary system of governance.

That is until the real amigos of the CoE stood up to them and called their bluff.

Their temporary celebration ground to a halt.

CoE altered the Uhuru authored land reform clauses.

CoE left regional majimbo out and agreed (with the Naivasha deal) to have provinces abolished.

CoE retained the pure presidential system but strengthened the Senate.

In all this, William Ruto was left naked, exposed to his angry and bitter Kalenjin constituents.

Uhuru run away from him.

At least Uhuru scored a big political victory for his GEMA constituents, while he lost out on his aristocratic land dreams.

So, Uhuru the politician would want to support this draft, but Uhuru the aristocrat, feels very threatened by the land clauses in the draft.

He has opted to keep off the referendum campaigns, pretending to be immersed in important 'development' issues.

Your guess is as good as mine as to what he is doing in private.

Uhuru the aristocrat will always prevail over Uhuru the politician.

He will secretly sponsor the No side, hoping his family's hold on land is never threatened.

Thus Uhuru (highly regarded by the GEMA electorate) and Ruto (with an angry and bitter Kalenjin electorate) are on one side, the NO side. Fate has brought the two together, under very different circumstances.