Sugar wars now lure Ruto into eye of political storm

When President Uhuru Kenyatta concluded a recent three-day work visit to Kampala, the uproar that followed was deafening as allegations flew that the State had “mortgaged” the future of millions of farmers in Kenya through a skewed sugar import deal with Uganda.

Leading politicians from western Kenya hit the roof, even snubbing an invite to State House. Government officials and sympathisers of the ruling Jubilee coalition, on the other hand, rushed to absolve the Head of State from any wrong doing, escalating the spat to a seemingly endless melodrama.

But amid the brouhaha one man this week found himself yet again in the eye of the storm, fighting now too familiar political wars with his nemesis Raila Odinga.

Attempts by Deputy President William Kipchirchir Samoei arap Ruto to defend his boss have re-opened old political wounds that followed a fallout with his once political ally.

Shortly after the spat over Uganda sugar imports broke out last week, Ruto made a trip to western Kenya, where he claimed that the former prime minister owed the financially crippled Mumias Sugar Company Sh40 million. He demanded that Raila refunds the money to help boost fortunes of the sugar industry.

“I saw my friend Khalwale (Kakamega senator) at a Press conference with some of the people who owe Mumias Sugar millions of shillings and I thought he would tell them to pay up the debts,” the Deputy President told a rally in Matungu, Kakamega.

His comments drew the ire of Raila who described Ruto as corrupt.

“Right now we are talking about the Uganda-Kenya sugar deal, so the high priest of corruption in Kenya should not divert our attention to other issues,” Raila said at the end of a two-day strategy meeting of the Orange Democratic Movement in Maanzoni, Machakos.

The two leaders have no love lost between them since parting ways about seven years ago.

The ongoing case against Ruto at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Mau evictions and the contested 2013 General Election are at the centre of acrimonious relations between the erstwhile political-comrades-turned-foes, who first worked together ahead of the 2005 referendum campaign and fought on the same side in the 2007 General Election.

The tiff between Raila and Ruto may, however, not end soon because all the three issues that marked their fallout remain at play today ahead of the 2017 General Election when the duo is expected to battle it out for the vote-rich Rift Valley.

The uncertainty hanging over Ruto’s ICC case was rekindled on Wednesday after judges at the global court allowed a request by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to use evidence earlier given by five hostile witnesses.

In her request to the judges, Ms Bensouda claimed the existence of an organised and effective scheme to persuade prosecution witnesses to withdraw or recant their evidence, through a combination of intimidation and bribery.

On Mau Forest evictions, Ruto is now taking the heat from the same individuals he rallied against Raila just a few years back. In the run up to the 2013 elections, Raila was accused of mobilising State machinery as the prime minister to inhumanely evict squatters from the Mau Forest to protect the water tower that supports livelihoods of millions of people downstream.

The Mau question remains a big headache for the Deputy President because it has featured in spats with former allies, Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto and Kuresoi MP Zakayo Cheruiyot, who have threatened to water down Ruto’s influence in the vote-rich South Rift.

Previously, a maize exports scandal saw Ruto moved from the minister for Agriculture in the coalition government in 2008 to the ministry of Higher Education.

He was suspended from the Cabinet in October 2010 after the court ruled he had a case to answer over the fraudulent sale of land to the Kenya Pipeline Company for Sh272 million.

Ruto fought another court battle over a 100-acre farm in Turbo, which Gilbert Adrian Muteshi — who claims to have been displaced in the post-election violence — accuses him of irregularly appropriating. Ruto has denied any wrong doing and was ordered to surrender the land.

But even with these challenges, the charismatic politician popularly known as “hustler” doesn’t look stretched just yet.

Ruto cuts an image of a hardened individual right from his days as a pupil when he sold various merchandise like live chicken and peanuts along the Nakuru-Eldoret Highway to supplement the family income.

He has had an eventful stint ever since his largely accidental plunge into politics after his performance as head of the choir at an African Inland Church prayer event caught retired President Daniel Moi’s eye.

Moi later enlisted him into Kanu 92 (YK’92), a lobby of monied young men formed to drum up support for the former president in the first multi-party General Election. Ruto was the founding organising secretary of the lobby that helped Moi win the election that year.

Ruto plunged into elective politics in 1997 when he became Kanu’s vice-chairman for Eldoret North, with Reuben Chesire as the chairman. That year he toppled Chesire as MP for Eldoret North. Ruto was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet in the last three months of the Moi government in 2002 after a rebellion by top Kanu leaders against the anointing of Uhuru as Moi’s preferred successor.

Ruto stood with Uhuru and was by his side as he conceded the Presidency to Mwai Kibaki after the General Election that year. Ruto then moved to coin his own political destiny when he successfully took on Moi in the run up to the 2007 polls for control of the Rift Valley voting bloc, which he delivered overwhelmingly to Raila’s ODM.

Ruto attended Wareng Secondary School in Eldoret and Kapsabet Boys High School, where he led the Christian Union and was the dining hall captain. Colleagues describe him as a soft spoken and shy student who kept a low profile.

He taught at Sirgoi Secondary School and Kamagut Secondary School, where he met his wife Rachel Chebet, with whom he has six children.

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