Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Open letter to William Ruto By Peter N. Ngure

An Honest Open letter to Honorable William Ruto

I have watched you in the last few weeks transverse the country urging the people to re- look at the ICC list of six and you have somehow caught my eye. . In a way, I agree with you; the Six plus others should face Trials and be prosecuted My problem comes when you try to win sympathy from us by bringing in the issues of your family (By the way, Kiraitu tried the same early and it failed miserably). I watched you talk about how your child is having a hard time in school being asked by fellow children if their father indeed torched a church (or is it facilitated the displacement of hundreds of thousands). I indeed felt the pain of your children who have no ready answers (Unlike you) on the events of 2007/08. I actually agree with you that your child should be kept out of this; just like we should have kept the children of the IDP’s and by extension their parents who had no ill role in voting for their preferred candidate in 2007. (By the way, have you ever thought that some of the people who were displaced were highly supportive of ODM? Their only crime was their ethnic background which is God given and they can do nothing about???). This is similar to those who died or were displaced in Kisumu, Kibera, Kikuyu town, Limuru and Naivasha.
I was impressed when you said that your child’s teacher advised you not to leave your child to watch news (the impression I got is that the things you guys are saying on TV are too ridiculous for a child to handle; think about that critically before you go to address a crowd next time).
Three things caught my eye; one is that your child goes to school – this is History for IDP children as their education was disrupted long ago by the PEV and they will have to restart the same in the future. Second; you can afford to have your children watch TV, the IDP children have no idea what that is; its still history since 2007/8 PEV. I was of the opinion that your children need to watch the burning of the Kiambaa church just to get a feel of what the IDPs children saw of their homes but a friend of mine told me two wrongs don’t make a right. Thirdly; one of your children insisted to go with you to The Hague (Even if the IDP kids insisted to go to the Hague, and their parents were willing, they can’t afford) but most importantly, how I wish that the IDP children had the choice in 2007/08 to go with their parents to the camps or to be left at their maternal homes; Ohhhh sorry, I had forgotten, the homes had already been burnt!
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The right and just thing to do now is for you and the others in the Ocampo list is to come together and make a joint pact; that the Rift Valley and Central provinces, towns like Naivasha, Kisumu and even Kibera are all part of Kenya, anyone can live there; peace can, will and should prevail. And Ohhhh, Kiplagat’s commission is out there; go and tell them your truth; alternatively, the Hague offers a better and wider audience (lots of TV coverage too) GO FOR IT! JUST KEEP YOUR CHILDREN AND THE IDP CHILDREN OUT OF IT!

(Complied by Peter N. Ngure – A social worker with a Heart for the IDPs)