On Tuesday, the powerful Kalenjin Council of Elders threw in the towel and concluded that it’s impossible to reconcile its two sons, Deputy President Dr William Ruto and KANU Party leader Gideon Moi.
The elders known as Myoot Kalenjin Council says they have been unable to broker a deal and blamed what they termed ‘the battle of egos between Ruto and Gideon’.
The elders led by chairman Paul Leleito have been trying to unite the two leaders in a bid to rally the community’s vote in 2022. Splitting the Rift Valley vote could spell defeat at the polls.
But an ugly supremacy battle played out between the two politicians following the death of Jonathan Moi, Gideon’s elder brother, a fortnight ago.
This left mediators pondering what to do.
Leleito now warns that Ruto and Gideon’s presidential bids in 2022 are in jeopardy if the community remains divided.
“We had good intentions of having our leaders and people united… We only wanted them [Ruto and Gideon] to listen to our calls and advice. They refused,” Leleito said.
He expressed regret that the two have largely snubbed their summons.
Bett said he also had given up on convincing the two to work together.
Bett, who served as State House Comptroller during the Moi administration, said he has personally tried numerous times to unite the two, or at least have them call a truce.
“Both are full of ego,” Bett told a local Daily. “I have been on that journey, I started in 2014 trying to talk to them but I could not make any breakthrough. Self-centredness, ego and hardlines took centre stage and that is why you see this bad blood between the two.”