Kenya’s Agriculture Minister, William Ruto, has publicly criticised the prime minister Mr Odinga for “failing to defend the interests of the Kalenjin community”. He said that Rift Valley residents were concerned with the manner in which the prime minister was handling the Waki report. Justice Philip Waki chaired a commission which recently released a report on the violence in Kenya following the disputed elections at the end of last year.
The 529-page report details systemic failures on the part of police, the provincial administration, the media and politicians. It makes reference to a secret list of persons suspected of being leading violence instigators and financiers, and recommends that a special court be set up to try the suspects. Prime minister Odinga has said that he wants to implement the recommendations of the Waki report in full, and this has upset a number of politicians, who say that it should be shelved.
A list available for download from wikileaks.org appears to be the “secret list” of suspected instigators of violence, and, unsurprisingly, Mr Ruto’s name, and the names of others who have been calling for the Waki report to be shelved, appear prominently on the list. Mr Ruto is still being prosecuted for allegedly defrauding the Kenya Pipeline Company of large sums of money several years ago.