KIGEN TELLS ICC SUSPECT WILLIAM RUTO: STOP "SELLING" KALENJIN VOTES !

Keiyo South ODM chairman Micah Kigen has challenged the Eldoret North Member of parliament and ICC suspect William Ruto and his renegade group of legislators, to relinquish their parliamentary positions and face the electorate if they are men enough

"Should Ruto and company decide to resign and face the electorate, they will get a rude shock of their lives. Let them resign if they are men enough! When Prime Minister Raila Odinga said he was no longer in Kanu, he resigned and faced the electorate but he was re-elected. Let Ruto and his comrades-in-arms do the same!"Kigen said

He accused the rebel Mps of hanging on Ruto's tailcoats, charging that the former Higher Education minister does not have any agenda on the direction the country should take.

RUTO ONLY KNOWS HOW TO PACK KALENJIN VOTES IN A BAG AND TRADE THEM FOR MONEY, CHARGES KIGEN

Addressing the press, Kigen (pictured left) explained that Ruto's only knowledge of the country "is to pack Kalenjin votes in a bag and hawk them for financial gain, and in return, dish out handouts to his short-sighted hangers on".

Kalenjins, the ODM official pointed out, are not gullible but are known to be forthright and steadfast in their stand, and also cautious in taking up any political direction in the interest of the community and the country at large.

"I want to tell Ruto and his allies that Kalenjins will not be in the opposition again, and it is for this reason that Raila Odinga is their best choice as the next president and the country's choice", asserted Kigen.

POLITICAL NOVICE

Ruto, he charged, was a political novice and his ambition to be the country's president was premature.

LAUGHTER

"This ambition is totally misplaced, unconvincing and misguided and should mature after 30 years", Kigen stated, and burst out into laughter during the media briefing.

He told the press that die hard ODM supporters will mount a spirited campaign and mobilize the entire Kalenjin community to counter the propaganda and disinformation by Ruto and his ilk so that the community gets a clear picture of what is taking place in the country.

STORY IN THE LOCAL PRESS

Kigen was reacting to a story in the local press indicating that Ruto and his allies had dropped their ODM positions and will not be involved in the grassroots elections this week.

The rebel Mps said they were no longer interested in the affairs of the party led by the Prime Minister.

Kigen hit back stating that Ruto had always told the public that he had quit ODM a year ago and had urged the Kalenjins to join the United Democratic Movement.

Kanini Evans Kariuki

Kanini Evans Kariuki is a veteran Kenyan Journalist with several years of experience behind him. He was born on July 10, 1963 in Nakuru town,Rift Valley province, Kenya, at Kivumbini estate. His entire family members later shifted from Kivumbini to Flamingo estate, then Kimathi, Thumaina, Langalanga and then to Free Area, near the Lanet Army Barracks where they settled.

He completed his secondary education at Afraha Secondary School in Nakuru town , Rift Valley province,Kenya,in 1980, and then joined Naitiri High School,Western Kenya, for his"A"level education,completing in 1982. Later, he underwent training in journalism in some institutes in Kenya.

Kanini who doubles up as a researcher, has worked for all the leading Daily newspapers in Kenya;the Daily Nation, The Standard, The Kenya Times and The People Daily.He was the Eldoret town Bureau Chief of The Star newspaper-Kenya's most incisive and authoritative by-weekly newspaper, which collapsed way back in 1998 due to what was perceived as political machinations worked out against it by the past government.Eldoret town is in the Rift Valley part of Kenya,which was the hotbed of the 2007 ugly political violence.
Kanini is currently also a media consultant for Soldiers of Peace International Association,Africa liason office,Nairobi.

In his long-standing career as a journalist,Kanini has covered various dramatic events in Kenya which include the story of former renown detainee Koigi wa Wamwere. He has also covered the 1992 and 1997 politically-instigated ethnic violence in the expansive Rift Valley province, and the worst of all, the 2007 political violence in Kenya where over 1,500 people were killed,350,000 displaced, hundreds maimed and property worth billions of shilings torched following the disputed elections.

Kanini also covered the sad story of the late outspoken and fiery Kenyan clergyman bishop Alexander Kipsang arap Muge, who was famous in the East African region for fighting corruption, land -grabbing, political assassinations,bureaucracy and other irritating vices.

Bishop Muge perished in a bizzare road accident on August 14,1990 along the Eldoret/Turbo road, facing Western Kenya.

The bishop died after a controversial but triumphant visit to Western Kenya in Busia, after receiving death threats from a former cabinet minister, warning him that he would die if he dared visit the area.

Kanini also covered the historic Somalia National Peace and Reconciliation Conference from when it first kicked off in Kenya on October 15 2002, to the end.

Kanini is in the files of Amnesty International for his courage in the reportage of events in the volatile Rift Valley region, and has received commendation from the global Human Right's watchdog.

Apart from covering events in the Rift Valley, he also writes about issues affecting East and Central Africa as well as other parts of Africa.

Kanini has been trained on Journalism and ethics by the Media Institute in Kenya, and has also undergone various in-house trainings in journalism with the Daily Nation Media Group, East Africa's largest circulating newspaper.

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