Uhuru Kenyatta blames Raila Odinga for 2007/08 poll chaos

The post election violence of 10 years ago is back on the political agenda, with the President and his main challenger trading accusations as to who bore responsibility.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday charged that Mr Raila Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement, played a central role in fomenting the violence in which 1,133 people were killed and Kenya left badly scarred.

Mr Kenyatta, on his second day of campaigns in the Kisii region, maintained that Mr Odinga had a hand in the chaos, telling a gathering of leaders at Nyanturago Stadium in Kisii County yesterday: “Raila was at the centre of the 2007 chaos in which Kenyans fought but he blamed it on (William) Ruto.

“Alikuwa katikati ya vita. Yeye ndio aliwasha moto. (He was at the centre of the violence. He is the one who ignited the flames.”

“Nani alikuwa na lugha ya 40 against one? (Who was propagating the call for 40 against one),” charged the President who was accompanied by his deputy William Ruto.
“The Kalenjin and the Kikuyu fought but we are working well with Mr Ruto. We don’t want the politics of hate,” said the President.

Mr Odinga struck back immediately, accusing the President of fishing for any cause to re-ignite his re-election campaign, adding that the Head of State knew the truth about who was responsible for the chaos that followed the disputed elections.

LACK OF EVIDENCE

Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta were among six Kenyans tried at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity but freed for lack of evidence.

The President said the Abagusii were among the communities affected by the violence and that internally displaced persons in the region will be compensated next month.

However, in a statement, the former Prime Minister said President Kenyatta and his entourage, which included Mr Ruto, were to blame for the post election violence.

“We understand the desperation of the President for something to hang on to and re-energise his depressed 2013 voting bloc. We, however, advise the President to look around his entourage as he visits Kisii and also look into the mirror if he is interested in the truth on the 2007/2008 violence,” said the ODM party leader.

Mr Odinga told the President that the area he was touring was full of victims of the chaos and questioned whether some of those who were affected most had turned up to listen to the version of the narrative by the Head of State.

NEVER COMPENSATED

“We remind the President that the Gusii land he is visiting is littered with post-election violence victims who are yet to be compensated, including a widow who had only her husband’s skull to bury. We hope the President has had time to ask whether she has been at his rallies and if she believes his story,” he said.

The 2007 turmoil uprooted more than 650,000 people from their homes and cost businesses billions of shillings.

A grievance that the majority of the IDPs evicted from the Rift Valley have never been compensated carried significant undertones during the President’s re-election campaign tour in Nyamira and Kisii counties which voted largely for Mr Odinga in the 2013 polls.

Mr Albert Akama, the chairman of the Abagusii IDPs Network says 50,000 members have never been compensated.

The fact that the majority of the IDPs were evicted from the Rift Valley, Mr Ruto’s backyard, has always strained the relationship between the community and the Deputy President.

The President used the meeting to call for forgiveness and reconciliation.

Mr Odinga has denied playing any role in the violence and the trial of Mr Ruto and President Kenyatta at the International Criminal Court.

RIGGING OF ELECTIONS

In a past interview, Mr Odinga said he did not ask Kenyans to attack and kill one another during the mass action to protest alleged rigging of elections by former President Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity.

He also blamed the indictment and trial of Ruto, who was in ODM at that time, on Parliament’s and the then-suspects’ refusal to help set up a local tribunal to look into the chaos.

Mr Odinga and Mr Kibaki, who was declared the winner of the elections, were not indicted by ICC.

READ: Why Ocampo left Odinga out of case

Refusing to accept the results of the election he accused Mr Kibaki of rigging, Mr Odinga called for mass action. The anger, frustration and calculated violence that followed nearly destroyed the country.

Six leaders, including President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto stood trial before The Hague-based court.

The others were former head of Public Service Francis Muthaura, former Cabinet minister Henry Kosgey, former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali and former radio presenter Joshua sang.

President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto faced charges of, among others, crimes against humanity — including persecution and forcible transfer of population.

Mr Kosgey, Mr Muthaura and Mr Ali were acquitted due to lack of evidence linking them to crimes committed during the violence.

CASES CRUMBLED

The cases against President Kenyatta, Mr Ruto and Mr Sang also crumbled due to what Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said was witness interference and lack of cooperation from the Kenyan Government.

Addressing the Kisii gathering, the President warned that the county had “lost 25 years” to negative politics after the exit of former President Daniel Moi.

He blamed Nasa principals for having failed to play their part in addressing the nation’s challenges during their time in office, saying they engaged in idle politics and negative political competition.

He noted: “We want to move forward. The Jubilee government has a clear vision, focus, and unity of purpose.”

In response, Mr Odinga argued that it was President Kenyatta’s family and his associates who were behind the lack of economic development in the country.

“The President needs to look no further than the empire his family and associates assembled corruptly using public resources, if he is keen to understand why Kenya stagnated while the Republic of Korea moved forward. In the ill-acquired wealth of the family and associates lies Kenya’s lost years,” he said.

He told the President that the improvement in infrastructure in the Kisii region was started during the Grand Coalition period and not the Jubilee administration.

SKIPPED PRESIDENT'S TOUR

“The Gusii people need no lecture on who initiated the infrastructural transformation in their county. Neither do they need to be told who the high priest of corruption in the country is. They are only too aware,” he said.

On Wednesday, local ODM politicians led by Governors James Ongwae (Kisii) and John Nyagarama skipped the President’s tour.

The President was hosted by Kisii Senator Chris Obure, who recently defected from ODM to Jubilee and lawyer Charles Nyachae.

The Jubilee leaders are in a spirited fight to wrest Nyamira and Kisii counties from the grip of Mr Odinga’s ODM.

In the last election, Mr Odinga garnered a total of 358,421 votes in Kisii and Nyamira Counties against Mr Kenyatta’s 149,667 votes.

The former Prime Minister secured 236,831 votes with President Kenyatta managing 95,596  in Kisii while in Nyamira, he garnered 121,590 votes against the President’s 54,071 vote.

Deputy President Ruto asked the Abagusii to shun the opposition Nasa alliance. He stressed that the Kipsigis and Abagusii had strong historical ties.

He said the Jubilee government had set aside 22 million to build roads in Nyamira and Kisii counties.

BROKERED DEAL

During the trip, Mr Ruto brokered a deal which saw Kisii deputy governor Joash Maangi drop his governorship candidacy in favour of Mr Obure, who will be seeking the Jubilee ticket.

The deputy governor, who has fallen out with his boss since spearheading Jubilee campaigns in the region, was promised a state job in return for the gesture.

This declaration by Mr Maangi effectively clears the way for Senator Obure to clinch the Jubilee ticket for the governorship.

“We have convinced Mr Maangi to drop his ambitions in return for a job somewhere in government,” said Mr Ruto.

On his part, Mr Maangi said Senator Obure was yet to formally campaign for his support, but said he would not go against the party bosses’ wishes.

“Senator Obure has not yet asked me for my vote, but since the president has requested me to step down, who am I to defy him?” said Mr Maangi.

At Mogonga Marketi during a stopover, Mr Maangi appeared to have buckled under pressure from the party bosses and announced his backing for Mr Obure’s candidature.

In attendance were Senator Obure, governorship running mate Albert Nyaundi, MPs Joel Onyancha (Bomachoge Borabu), Zebedeo Opore (Bonchari), Richard Tongi (Nyaribari Chache), Jimmy Angwenyi (Kitutu Chache North), Stephen Manoti (Bobasi), and women representative Mary Otara.