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Citizen Weekly

Tuesday 17 March 2015

KALENJINS, MAASAI REJECTS JAP

Monday February 23, 2015 - President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy, William Ruto, could be in for a rude shock following the formation of Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) on whose ticket Uhuru is set to seek re-election as President in 2017.
This is after Kalenjins rejected the new party saying they were not consulted.
Led by Bomet Governor, Isaac Ruto, Rift Valley politicians and Deputy President William Ruto’s URP members asked Kalenjins not to rush into joining JAP.
Ruto noted that their Kikuyu counterparts in Nairobi were not being honest and sincere about JAP and that they were taking Kalenjins for fools by deciding for them without proper consultations.
“We only hear of this party called JAP but we have not been asked for our opinion about it. We shall not accept people in Nairobi to make decisions for us,” said Ruto in the presence of the DP’s spanner boy and Elgeyo Marakwet Senator, Kipchumba Murkomen.
Similar sentiments were echoed Kuresoi South MP, Zakayo Cheruiyot, and Deputy Speaker, Lorna Laboso.
According to Cheruiyot, Kalenjins will not follow Kikuyus blindly like before and that’s why they will only join JAP after an assurance that Ruto will succeed Uhuru in 2022.
“We should not follow leaders blindly without questioning some of the decisions they make on our behalf. We left ODM because we were being treated as outsiders and now they are telling us to join JAP. They must assure us that they will support Ruto in 2022, otherwise, there is no deal,” said Cheruiyot.
On her part, Laboso said Kalenjins were shocked to learn of JAP because they were not privy to its formation.
“We would be lying if we said we were not disappointed by the lack of consultation. However, we understood after it was necessitated by the upcoming Kajiado by-election to field one candidate, among many other reasons,” said Laboso.

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