- Why are they looking for excuses to reject a report that is not even out?
- If you are opposing the BBI, you will not be opposing Raila and Uhuru but the wishes of Kenyans.
Image: DPPS
Deputy President William Ruto has sent the clearest signal yet that he might oppose the Building Bridges report, exposing his dilemma over an initiative spearheaded by his boss.
The DP's opposition to the report is likely to put him on a collision course with President Uhuru Kenyatta, the architect of the initiative, setting the stage for a nasty political divorce.
Ruto’s position on the report, however, seems to be pegged to his growing rivalry with Opposition chief Raila Odinga, and not the contents of the report — which is yet to be made public.
Initially, Ruto said he would oppose the BBI report should it propose an expanded Executive.
His argument then was that Kenyans should not opt for an expensive referendum to “create positions for a few political elite”.
But in light of Raila and ODM's big victory in the Kibra by-election in which he suffered a humbling defeat, Ruto has changed and now accuses Raila of undermining the BBI.
Image: DPPS
The DP claims Raila was behind the intimidation and harassment of his party agents including some Jubilee MPs.
“Tinga, that we discuss BBI, meant to sort out election violence when you have not only refused to renounce terror but continue to brazenly celebrate and perpetuate it, is to take Kenyans for fools,” Ruto tweeted on Sunday night.
Addressing ethnic antagonism and divisive elections were part of the mandate of the 14-member BBI team chaired by Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji.
Sunday was the third consecutive day, after the Kibra loss, that Ruto engaged in a twitter rant against Raila.
More than two weeks ago, Ruto dismissed claims he was in a dilemma over the report and declared he and his troops would ally behind Uhuru and support the BBI.
“Ultimately, as initiators of inclusive non-tribal political discourse, we will stand behind our Party and Leader," Ruto said.
Ruto’s foot soldiers are tough-talking, however, and have announced they will reject the proposals of the BBI within and outside Parliament.
Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua, a close ally of the DP, has openly said, “We will reject the BBI together with Raila.”
He claimed the former Prime Minister “is the face of whatever is going wrong in the country”.
“If he will be the face of BBI, we will reject Raila, we will reject the BBI,” he pledged.
“Let me warn him [Raila] that the politics he has started of the bedroom and [about] holding territories will come to haunt him. In Kenya, we all have bedrooms.”
The DP's allies claim security agencies turned a blind eye to the violence meted out to heir supporters simply because of the Uhuru-Raila handshake
“I want to challenge the so-called super minister Fred Matiang’i. How come Dagoretti North MP Simba Arati beat up people in Kibra and there is evidence and he is still walking free, yet Ndindi Nyoro only told Nominated MP Maina Kamanda not to run the show in his constituency and he sent 150 GSU officers to arrest him and he had not beaten anyone.”
Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria are among leaders who have signalled their opposition to the BBI report.
Kuria maintained that there will be no BBI if the ODM brigade does not express remorse for what happened in Kibra.
“The ODM Party has to apologise for the Kibra violence. No apology, no BBI. We have to say 'No' to political violence once and for all,” Kuria said.
Kuria reiterated that the ODM leadership should apologise to Kenyans over the violence witnessed in Kibra if they want the BBI to be supported.
“The BBI will be headed nowhere if our counterparts continue to behave that way,” he added.
Nonetheless, supporters of the BBI, among them Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu and his Shinyalu counterpart Justus Kizito said Ruto and his allies just want to use Kibra as an excuse to reject the report.
“Nobody is saying that they must support the BBI. Why are they looking for excuses to reject a report that is not even out?" Wambutu asked.
Kizito said the BBI is not about Raila as some politicians want to portray it. “If you are opposing the BBI, you will not be opposing Raila and Uhuru but the wishes of Kenyans,” he said.
ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna said Tangatanga leaders will not stop Kenyans from getting what they want. “The BBI is a report of the people. It is the people’s views in the report and not Raila’s,” he said.
The 14-member BBI team was gazetted in May last year and went on nationwide tours traversing all the 47 counties to collect opinions on the main challenges facing the country, among them election violence and ethnic division.
Those calling for the creation of more positions at the top argued it was the way out of violence experienced every election cycle.
Wambugu, on the other hand, said violence cannot be condemned selectively. He said those condemning violence in Kibra are keeping silent on the violence in the Ganda ward by-election in Malindi where one man lost his life.
He said the Ganda incident has even ended up in court but nobody is mentioning it when they are condemning election violence.
“I have not heard of anybody who has gone to the police over the violence in Kibra. It is just political statements leaders are making because I think even Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa has not recorded a statement,” he added.
Wambugu added, “People are just looking for things to say. Just because Raila is supporting the BBI, they must oppose it. Why can't they just say they are not with Uhuru and Raila?”
Kizito said leaders saying they will not support the BBI were against the Handshake right from the beginning.
“The BBI is not a Raila thing. These people should realise that when they fight back against the BBI they are also opposing the President and Kenyans as a whole. And then again, why are they opposing something that they have not seen?. It is mischievous,” Kizito added.
Kenyans are eagerly waiting for Uhuru to unveil the report, which was declared ready over two weeks ago.