The Heavy-Handed Suppression Of The Kalenjins By Deputy President William Ruto

If it’s not one too many then it’s too many mistakes for one particular leader. Deputy President William Ruto has demonstrated the epitome of failure of a political leader throughout his political career in a manner that has led to the suffering of many; and most of all his own Kalenjin community. Deputy President William Ruto through the art of deception has taken away their main economic mainstay, he has ensured that his own become homeless and finally he has labelled them thieves which has almost become their brand name.

They have waited and waited and are still waiting for the Deputy President to even take a jab of the Mau issue. But nothing come forthwith and will never. This is because Ruto knew exactly what he was doing when he rooted for the resettlement and compensation of Mau evictees. Land that he very well knew belonged to the government but went ahead to deceive them in the disguise of resettling. Cherangany MP Joshua Kuttuny once pointed out that the Kalenjins were suffering, yet one of their own was the second in power. They thought they had voted in ‘their man’ to solve issues of the Mau evictions as he had promised them, yet ‘their man’ was one of the initiators of the problem in the first place.

Lest we forget, Ruto was the recipient of the 21-member taskforce report after the docket was moved to the DPs office but he ensured that he shelved it for further encroachment of the Mau. All as it has now appeared was in a bid to appease his community. However, right now Ruto is hearing none of it, and has totally gone mute on the matter. For him the Mau issue was his springboard to get to power. Even when conflict arose between the Maasai and the Kipsigis, Ruto had justified that the Kipsigis had a right to encroach the into the Mau complex and further into the Maasai ranches which even caused a conflict at the country’s largest water tower.

On another end, Ruto has shown total disdain for the farmers in the Rift Valley of whom a majority are his own Kalenjin community. The traitor that he is, Ruto worked hard to ensure he steals as much as he can through the scandals that occurred through the National Cereals and Produce Board. Back in 2017, Ruto had instructed the payment of individuals who irregularly supplied maize to the NCPB leaving out genuine farmers with their rotting maize out in the cold.

Additionally, Ruto with his men had machinated an artificial shortage of maize by placing low prices for farmers in order to discourage supply of maize, which would inevitably create a maize shortage and a subsequent importation of maize. The same Ruto had advised the protesting farmers to turn to an alternate economic activity and suggesting avocadoes for farmers who had invested millions in farming of maize and wheat. However, behind the scenes, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi frequented the Democratic Republic of Congo where aces upon acres of maize was going to be imported to Kenya after they harvest.

On the same note, Ruto who has always strived to kill the economic livelihoods of his own Kalenjin farmers had been involved in a prior maize scandal back in  2009 where he was then a Minister for Agriculture. As documents indicated, Ruto was involved in the illegal sale of maize. Apparently, ‘briefcase millers who inflated their milling per-hour capacity were awarded large amounts of maize by the Strategic Grain Reserve which was strangely approved by four permanent secretaries. Secondly, bags of maize might have been redirected outside the country that had been then stated by the government. Thirdly and the most disheartening, with the rise in cancer cases, this was the time when Ruto and his corrupt allies imported maize that was found unfit for human consumption.

A corrupt, ruthless and heartless individual, Ruto does not deserve to be called a leader in any capacity. He has on countless times betrayed his own Kalenjin community, choking away their livelihoods. He has tainted the community’s name labelling them as corrupt and eroding the athlete aspect in them.  He has aimed to destroy his own so as to build his own empire. He has misused and exploited them in a manner that he is able to manipulate them through control imitated by money and power. For Kalenjins, Ruto support is not out of choice but out of the circumstance they face if they do not do so.

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