Will William Ruto be president in 2022? The Deputy President is working so hard to ensure he occupies the house on the hill after the next general elections.
But will he manage it? It seems he must overcome very many obstacles before his dream becomes a reality.
Former ICC witness William Rono now claims there is an elaborate plan by ‘powerful individuals’ to revive the case the DP in a bid to stop him from vying for the presidency in 2022.
The witness, who recanted his evidence against Ruto and joined the DP’s defence team has named Cheranganyi MP Joshua Kutuny as one of those working with State House operatives and ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to revive the case against Ruto before 2022.
However, Kutuny dismissed the allegation and said it was a “desperate fight back by cartels involved in the maize and fertilizer scandals”.
“Let them pay farmers and deal with the issues we raised. Such claims on ICC issues are just but tears from the cartels who are feeling the heat for frustrating farmers and stealing from the NCPB,” he said.
The MP described the allegations as “nonsense” and said he would not be cowed from speaking on the rights of farmers.
Rono, who spoke to journalists in Eldoret on Thursday, claimed he was among former witnesses who had been approached by Kutuny and “other operatives” to fix the DP by claiming Ruto had interfered with witnesses to cripple the ICC cases.
“I am among three former witnesses approached by Kutuny and Harambee House operatives to go back to ICC and fix the DP over claims of witness tampering,” he said.
Rono said recent statements by Bensouda that she was gathering fresh evidence in the Kenyan cases came because of the fresh efforts by Kutuny and others at Harambee house to fix the DP ahead of 2022.
“As former witnesses, we have rejected that plan and that is why Kutuny and his colleagues have been coming up with all manner of claims against the DP,” he said.
Rono said the call by a group of MPs for Ruto to be probed over the maize issue was part of a wider scheme to undercut Ruto’s presidential ambitions in 2022.
Kutuny, Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter and their Moiben counterpart Silas Tiren last week sparked a storm in Rift Valley when they met with farmers in Eldoret and demanded that the DP should be probed over the maize and fertilizer issues.
Rono said the ICC witnesses would give more details on the scheme to fix DP Ruto at the international court.