Ruto’s Seven Chopper Fleet at Sotik was the Tip of an Iceberg
Ruto’s entourage landed at Sotik with seven choppers
The helicopter hiring firms in Kenya are said to be having more contacts with the Office of the Deputy President, William Ruto than any other institution in Kenya. This is because since they were rigged into Office by the Mount Kenya Mafia cartel in March this year, the Office of the Vice President is said to have hired choppers almost on a daily basis, either for DP’s personal use or to ferry some errand boy to some remote village for some political business. When he landed in Sotik for a political rally to present his ICC lamentations to the people, the Deputy President’s entourage landed in seven choppers allegedly hired by Ruto’s Office.
The cheapest choppers are going for Ksh 80,000 per hour totalling to Ksh 320,000 per chopper for the four hours Ruto’s entourage was politicking in the countryside. If you multiply that by seven, the sum total is Ksh 2.24 million spent on transport alone for the four hours the Deputy President was “at work” in Sotik. And that is cheaper because more tax payer’s money is being spent on Ruto’s personal trips to the Hague to attend to his case.
Together with the Ksh 100 million hustler jet and the Ksh 100 million handed over to Ruto for renovation of the newly built house of Deputy President, it is not difficult for a thinking Kenyan to understand the main character of the Jubilee leaders. They are increasingly emerging as overt looters of tax payer’s money as more VAT is imposed on basic consumer commodities in the Republic to increase the suffering of Wanjiku.
The lavish life-styles of Jubilee leaders on the one hand and lives of absolute poverty and deprivation of Wananchi on the other is the right price millions of Kenyans deserve to pay for failing to resist and prevent suspected war criminals from standing for elections and for getting their appendages in government to rig them to power in a bid to help them evade justice at the ICC.
With suspected criminals (alleged to have masterminded the murder of thousands of innocent civilians) possessing State power, it is unlikely that the looting and plunder will soon come to an end regardless of the amount of noise Kenyans are making. Both Ruto and Uhuru know that they are living on borrowed time and therefore, their lavish lifestyles have to reach the highest point attainable. For this reason, Ruto does not mind travelling with seven choppers while since Uhuru was sworn in as President, his mama has just attained billionaire status “of the highest standards” in the continent of Africa.
While Uhuru has sent enough signals that he will never appear at the ICC, Ruto might never return from the Hague next time he travels there because every time he boards an aircraft to the Hague, his return depends on the mood of the ICC Judge who warned him a while ago against “payukaring to the media” about proceedings at ICC. The Judge’s warning came after Ruto told the Media outside the ICC that the case against him “was crumbling”. For now, Ruto needs to live big because he is living his days at a time.
AU is like the typical African friend
For Uhuru Kenyatta, the situation is slightly different. He has now gone back to the African Union (aka extra-ordinary session), hoping for a resolution to the effect that he should not attend the ICC in February next year because the UN Security Council bull-shitted AU after the Council ruled against a deferral of the two cases. In the case of Uhuru and his “personal challenge” (that is the new name of the charges) the bigger problem is his advisors. If intelligent minders were really in charge of the National Intelligence Services (NIS), they could have advised Uhuru to leave AU to rot in peace instead of advising him to rely on the toothless body.
After the AU failed to protect Mohammed Gaddafi (the Unions Godfather) and after failing to even release a Statement or a resolution to stop the French from entering Mali recently to kill fundamentalists, Uhuru should not have been wasting valuable time and resources to listen to the AU. Why?
Because Africa Union has become the typical African friend whom, after discovering that you are heading into a ditch under difficult circumstances that cannot be changed, continues to escort you gleefully into the ditch with a lot of false stories designed to take care of your anxiety.
After the failure of Kibaki’s shuttle diplomacy to stop the cases (which included contacts with UN), the just rejected AU resolution for a deferral was one of the sweetest stories ever to have come from the AU to boost Uhuru’s fragile psychological condition. In case AU weaves a new story titled “Uhuru should not attend ICC trials”, the President will be alone the day ICC issues an arrest warrant for him, just like Gaddafi was alone in a ditch the day he was captured and killed. AU was nowhere to be seen although Gaddafi was one of the key financiers of AU.
If I may return to the hustler jet, Kenyans should just get used to them because they are just the tip of the iceberg. May be, State House was right in trying to control the DPs expenditure a few days ago, a move that angered Ruto. In as much as the matter remained an internal squabble between “Mount Kenyatta” at State House and “Mount Ruto” at the DPs Office, seven choppers parked a stone throw away from the Ruto rally in Sotik leaves little doubt about Ruto’s ideas on power wielding.
Kenya is a praying Nation and, may be, Ruto needs even more prayers to enable him appreciate the need to use tax payer’s money more responsibly. Just like during the Moi and Kibaki regimes, it is “looting as usual” during these hard days of the Jubilee misrule. It is true that choices have consequences but really, can Kenyans go back into history and establish who chose these people and why?
Okoth Osewe
Kenya Stockholm Blog 
A Rare Glimpse of #Uhuru Kenyatta’s Wastage of State Resources
Ruto days in power are numbered, there are some silly ,stupid and idiot kenyans who praise this Cattle rustler, a land grabber, and a mass murder as a very brillian -man some went up praising him as their god ,In Kenya where tin-pot dictators are worshipped regards Ruto as a genius without looking Ruto’s background and history ,This man was a choire singer When moi started his dirty politics and preached hate campaigns against Kikuyus living in Rift Valley Ruto& Jirongo found a platform and Joint Mois dreaded (SS-)Waffen) Storm-Troopers led by Y92 (Hitlers Youth)to demonstrate how capable they were in hate killings maiming torture and ethnic cleansing Moi printed millions of fake Kenya Money YK 92 was smelling money The Commanding Officer William Ruto& his Deputy Jirongo became millionairsIf not billionairs over-night.So when i hear how Smart Ruto is I Puke.How is he smart When He left Nairobi to attend ASP meeting in Hague If he is Smart forcing Bensouda to ask the ICC Judges to stop Ruto from adressing the ASP Meeting .where Ruto is a Suspect in the Dock .And cheating the ICC that He must always be granted permission to act as Kenyas President When Suspect Uhuru Kenyatta is away: But Yesterday RUto Forgot all this Hogwash .A thief has 40 days no more Ruto (Willian Samoei Ruto Right Now is in Shit-pit- Tugeni-latrin!
Kenya and the ICC: Coming to a Head?
Posted on November 19, 2013by Mark Kersten
Starting this week, member-states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will gather in The Hague for the ICC’s yearly Assembly of States Parties (ASP) conference. This meeting of member-states is shaping up to be one of the most contentious – and important – to date. The reason is simple: the ICC cases against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.
Deferral Flops
Last Friday, Kenya, supported by most of the African Union, went to the United Nations Security Council to request a deferral, under Article 16 of the Rome Statute, of the cases against Kenyatta and Ruto. Kenya knew well in advance that a deferral request would fail. Security Council members had outlined their positions regarding a deferral in the days and weeks prior to the vote. The P3 (the US, France and the UK) as well as ICC member-states sitting on the Security Council stated that the Council was the wrong venue to deal with the Kenya cases. They did not want the question of a deferral to come to a vote and reiterated that they believed that the ASP meetings were the proper venue to discuss and deal with the Kenya cases. Still, Kenya went ahead and certainly made a point in having the deferral request voted upon – and fail.
In ensuring that the vote went ahead, Kenya and its African Union partners have transformed what was generally viewed as a battle between themselves and the ICC into a diplomatic row between themselves and ‘Western’ ICC member-states. As an aside, this isn’t a bad thing for the Court. The focus is now squarely on those Security Council states, and especially the P3, who voted not to put a (temporary) halt to the Kenya cases.
A Matter of Diplomacy not Justice
Amazingly if not surprisingly, the Kenya cases now have almost nothing to do with justice. They long ago seized being an attempt to bring justice to the victims of Kenya’s 2007/08 post-election violence. Instead, the cases have morphed into some quirky combination of a diplomatic circus and fast-paced game of legal one-upmanship. It should be repeated: if Kenya had spent half the time it did on identifying and seeking justice mechanisms to deal with the post-election violence than it did seeking to undermine the Court and get African Union states behind it, we would be in a very different situation.
But for the rest of the world, the Kenya cases also represent a potential and looming diplomatic crisis. Even those states who are ICC member-states are scrambling to find a way to bridge their legal obligations stemming from of the Court and their political relationships with Kenyan government. It was telling that not one of the seven ICC member-state that was present on the Security Council for the deferral vote decided to vote against the motion to invoke Article 16. Not wanting to offend Kenya, all abstained. Their vote should be seen as a vote of non-confidence in the motion rather than a vote of confidence in the Court or the Kenya cases.
Those states that have sided with Kenya all along were the only clear winners on Friday. Amongst these, China stands out. Not long after being elected President, Kenyatta visited China and was welcomed with all the honours bestowed to a respected head of state. The Chinese government has consistently made it clear that it would support a deferral and the country voted in favour invoking Article 16. It has also used all of the right diplomatic language and niceties in supporting Kenya’s efforts to delay or terminate the cases. The diplomatic message to Western states from Kenya’s side is clear: we can just as easily look East as we can West and we won’t hesitate to do so.
Western states, as I have written previously, want to avoid the Kenya cases coming to a head. For all the oft-stated reasons (Kenya as a key player in the fight against terrorism, Kenya as a regional economic and political powerhouse, etc.), sustaining diplomatic relations with the Kenyan government is a key priority. These states want to avoid the much-dreaded “moment of non-cooperation”, when Kenyatta decides that he will not show up for a trial hearing and the Court, in response, issues a warrant for his arrest. At that point, normal diplomatic relations will become immensely more difficult. To avoid a diplomatic crisis, Western states have consistently stated that the cases should be examined at the ASP conference.
Kenya Cases to Dominate ASP
At this year’s ASP, Kenya is hoping to see a number of amendments to the Rome Statute adopted. Chief among them is a change to provisions pertaining to whether an accused (and especially a Head of State) is required to be continuously present and his/her trial in The Hague. The problem for Kenya, however, is that even if a sufficient number of ICC states parties agreed to amend the Rome Statute, those changes would only come into effect after one year. Kenyatta’s trial is due to begin in early February, less than three months from now.
Consequently, Kenya will also seek amendments to Rule 134 of the ICC’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence. In particular, the ASP will examine proposed amendments to sections pertaining to the ‘presence’ of defendants during their trial. In plain language, proposals will be made to amend this rule in order to: 1) allow a defendant to be ‘present’ during trial via “video technology” and 2) allow a defendant to be personally excused at trial but be ‘present’ during trial via his/her counsel.
There is every indication that other member-states, as well as the Obama administration, are inclined to support these amendments. Crucially, and unlike the proposed changes to the Rome Statute itself, if these amendments are passed by a two-thirds majority of states parties at the ASP, they would take effect immediately. An ICC trial by Skype is emerging as a real possibility.
Every party involved in the Kenya cases – the ICC, the Kenyan government, Kenyatta and Ruto, the African Union, involved states – has an interest in avoiding an act of non-cooperation by the Kenyan President. What remains unclear is how they will ultimately avoid such a worst-case scenario. Even if Kenya and its supporters get everything they want out of the ASP, questions loom.
The ASP faces two key hurdles: first, any amendments have to be consistent with the Rome Statute and, second, any amendment will have to jive with previous Appeal Chamber decisions. In particular, it isn’t clear how the proposed amendments will fit with the Appeal Chamber’s decision which ruled that Ruto had to be continuously present at his trial. At the same time, although much less pressing, there remain questions about the financial and technical feasibility of a trial via video link.
Tensions Growing?
Meanwhile, there are reports of emerging tensions between Ruto and Kenyatta (see Gado cartoon above). There are rumours suggesting that Ruto is concerned that he will be thrown under the bus as a scape goat by Kenyatta. This would presumably be the consequence of some deal between concerned states and the ICC wherein Ruto is made to be present continuously in The Hague during his trial while Kenyatta is free to rule the country. For the moment, these are only rumours, but is worthwhile remembering that the Kenyatta-Ruto alliance was a marriage of convenience as well as a response to the ICC. The two were previously adversaries.
In the end, ICC member-states face a host of difficult decisions at this year’s ASP. They are in the unenviable position of having to strike a very sensitive balance between their diplomatic relations with Kenya and their commitments to international law. But it is clear that many of them also believe that the very legitimacy and sustainability of the ICC itself is at stake.
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UPDATE/CORRECTION: Over at Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller notes an amendment to the Rome Statute could actually take much longer than a year: “pursuant to Art. 121(4), non-substantive amendments come into force one year after 7/8 of States Parties have accepted the amendment, not one year after the amendment is approved by the ASP. That could take years.” Kevin also argues that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for the ASP to redefine ‘presence’ in the ICC’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence.
Also, according to reports, nine African Union states will be barred from voting at this year’s ASP as a result of being in arrears to the ICC. This could have a significant impact on the AU’s attempts to pass certain amendments to the Rome Statute as well as to the ICC’s Rules of Evidence and Procedures.
It is now being reported that William Ruto will lead Kenya’s delegation at the ASP. And I thought he didn’t like it in The Hague! Hat tip to commenter, OtishOtish.
In response to plans to have Ruto lead Kenya’s ASP delegation, the OTP has requested that Judges at the ICC reverse their decision to excuse Ruto from attending his trial on 21 November:
The Prosecution requests Trial Chamber V(A) (“Chamber”) to reconsider and vacate its decision to grant the excusal of the Accused, Mr William Samoei Ruto (“Ruto”) from attending his trial on 21 November 2013. The Prosecution has been informed that Ruto is set to lead the Kenyan delegation to the Assembly of States Parties (“ASP) Twelfth Session, which commences on 20 November 2013 in The Hague. The Prosecution notes that Ruto’s excusal request was premised on the fact that he would be constitutionally required to be present in Kenya until 21 November, due to the absence of Kenya’s President, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta (“Kenyatta”), during that time. Considering Ruto’s imminent attendance at the ASP Session in The Hague, the Prosecution submits that the underlying rationale for the request for excusal is no longer valid: either Kenyatta will return to Kenya before 20 November 2013, making Ruto available to appear at trial on 21 November, or alternatively Ruto’s presence in Kenya is not in fact indispensable, notwithstanding Kenyatta’s absence.
http://justiceinconflict.org/
Watch the The Anus-thinking prison chiefs in a failed State>Note >The overweight Prison warders with protruding bellies &butts>
it is shameful Kenya govt,judiciary and parliament are approving appointment-elections of people with criminal cases into public offices against express terms and letters of constitution and trends internationally.how could ruto and uhuru be allowed to stand for leave alone being elected and cleared by supreme court to have won and be sworn in to be president and deputy president.? whereon earth do this charade take place ?
look now parliament is endorsing uhurus nomination of mututho to head a government agency…this could well be the case save the fact that mututho has a several criminal case pending in Kenyan courts allegedly fraud case of govt agencies.how on earth do you deal with this contradictions in jubilee govt.fighting corruption but appointing suspected corrupt people into public offices ?
is this not way of killing the future of Kenya <?
what is the difference between kanu regime of moi and so called jubilee ? recycling some old fellows like mututho and joseph kaguthi into some unknown offices without clear mandate ,was this not kanus style of governance ?
how much money are they suppose to steal on behalf of their patrons.do you remember the golden berg saga….instructions to pay….the koinange,arap bii isn't there similarity with jubilee way of doing things so called shuttle diplomacy,hiring of jets,resettlement of idps,issuance of title deeds,subsidized fertilizer ,seeds etc are this not avenues to fleece poor Kenyans,..
jubilee has suspect policies.from ICC bungled diplomacy,boycott of commonwealth,stupid tirade against western countries especially pet hate country—-Britain and united states of America.
what happened to America past robust foreign policy under George bush and even Ronald Reagan when no leader of third rate country would get away by abusing,dishonoring America the way jubilee govt is doing today ????
would Margaret thatcher have endured such spiteful abuse of UK the way lackeys of uhruruto are doing today ??????????.
why is uhuruto diplomacy so hopeless led by totally poor unschooled diplomats and helping to soil name of Kenya abroad ? how can they be jealous that Tanzania hosted Obama so they have to give excuses misled by Uganda to isolate Tanzania from east Africa ?
Anarchy in Kenya Perpetrated by Uhuru&Ruto govt here British Diplomats being injected from a Hotel in Ruto Hqs Diplomatic impunity does’nt apply in Uhuruto Jungle Territory!Britain (UK)has the Right to defend her Citizens>
http://standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000098325&story_title=british-diplomats-ejected-from-hotel
Uhuru&Ruto Speeding Trucks Knock Masai bulls&Donkeys Forcing Masai-Morans to react by closing Road! http://kenya.rcbowen.com/talk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=36895
All this anti-West rhetoric is misplacedUpdated Friday, November 22nd 2013 at 09:29 GMT +3
By Kipkoech Tanui
NAIROBI, KENYA: Some 129 years ago the Berlin Conference took place and historians prefer to diarise this 1884 event in Berlin, under Otto Von Bismarck, as the Scramble for or Partition of Africa.
It was the turning point for African States as they slipped into the yoke of direct colonial rule. Earlier, they had just been under their influence and control through trade links.
The trade itself was lopsided, and some would say it has not changed a bit because of the magnitude to which there is trade imbalance between Africa and the West. What is significant is that for these imperial states, Africa was the source of cheap raw materials such as its diverse mineral wealth.
To date, despite our claim to sovereignty, we still are as a Continent the backbone of European and American economies, as their main source of raw materials and destination of their finished products. In turn they remain the chaps whose doors we knock regularly, begging bowl in hand.
So as not to bore you with figures, let us just take the case of coffee and tea that we are good at producing, but remain products we export to be used for blending to produce the world’s best. The rich class in Kenya buys it when imported as exotic and classic coffee. Value addition you ask? We do very little my friend, and if you believe the tea you buy in the shops are from Kericho, Kisii, Bomet, Nakuru, and Central Kenya, you are a victim of the economic deception in this part of the Continent. As one governor told us recently, Kenyan tea is so expensive because of the blending value, we would not afford if it was to be sold as Grade One in our shops. So what happens is that the lower grades are blended with similarly graded teas from neighbouring States, and packaged as our own teas.
Now you get a feel of what we shall call economic imperialism. In short, it is how the white men conditioned us to like their products and tastes, and then physically pulled out, once they have us on the economic leash. That is how we have remained on their beck and call.
Now let me share with you a story told us by Mr Geoffrey Wachira, the chap who helped revive Invesco Insurance and wrote a book about it. He is an expert in Good Corporate Governance and this week, we also got long lessons on the subject from Dr Joshua Okumbe and Mr Guru Wachira, all of Centre for Corporate Governance.
The summary of what they teach is that organisations and states come down because of poor leadership, depreciation of trust in the leaders, and ineptitude or negligence by leaders to map out the risks ahead and detour the iceberg. This really sounds like the case with Kenya if we were to look at this political conglomerate as a corporate entity.
Wachira told us of this lawman who after Independence, while at the State Law Office, was assigned to take around a delegation from Singapore. This economic powerhouse, just like the Asian Tigers, was on the same economic footing — meaning GDP cluster — as Kenya then.
They had come to Kenya to try and see how it was coping with self-rule. They went back with our blueprints for multi-sector growth. Unlike we in Kenya, they didn’t restrict the contents to bookshelves and bars or other social places where we revive them, only to show how academically informed we are. No, they put it to practice, blending it with their own ideas.
Today as guys are arrested for dropping chewing gum and cigarette butts on the sparkling streets of Singapore, in Kenya those who throw paper-bags stuffed with human faeces into other people’s compounds are just frowned upon. In fact, we have justified this practice as a function of poverty, and even dignified it as ‘flying toilets’, ignoring the fact that the poverty in Africa is manufactured and perpetuated by the various political regimes.
I went on this tangent because of three reasons. First, we are preparing to replicate Independence Day on December 11 at Uhuru Gardens, complete with the hoisting of the flag by Uhuru in the same way his father did. Second, we are frothing on the sides of the mouth because of ICC cases, telling anyone who cares to hear that The Hague court is a Western tool to perpetuate neocolonialism.
Third, we are looking for new ‘friends’, of course again with begging bowl in hand. We are sending signals of economic romance to China, Middle East, and even some colourless States such as Azerbaijan.
In China and some Middle Eastern States such as Kuwait, for example, you find official mobile execution squads shuttling towns to dispense death sentences. Some like China could be rich but their human rights records speak volumes.
The point we are making is that let not our anger over the ICC trials blind us to the reality of how we misgoverned our continent, stole from our people, and sold out our souls to the West’s merchants of our value-added merchandise, to the point we can open our hearts to anyone that cares to look at us twice.
If we do this then our standards too will fall because the place we want to occupy in their hearts was one day occupied Muammar Gaddaffi, Saddam Hussein, Mobutu Seseko, and still in there you will find Robert Mugabe and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Yes, we can open our souls to Palestine believing it is the doorway to the Russian, Chinese and Middle Eastern hearts, and to make America and Europe squirm on the seat with jealousy, but we forget the dynamic nature of international relations.
Above all, we may replicate our Independence Day, shout all we can against the West, and proclaim our sovereignty, but that would not on its own make Africa better and kinder to the African.
United Kingdom Should not Chicken out or appease corrupt Nigger criminals whose madness demands tough reation from democratic Western Defenders and protectors of humanity. United Kingdom government should lead others in combating Dictatorship and impunity perpetrated by African tin-pot dictaors .whose history of savages tyranny and barbarianism against their masses everywhere south of Sahara where civilization democracy and freedom is a new vocabulary to these Nigger African baboons chimps and Orangutaungs!>>
Welcome to Tumbili-land>>
Watch A thieving Kikuyu & Uhuru Kenyatta Impunity defender!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u-AT875sWs#t=1196
No save place for Old Kikuyu thugs Nov 23, 2013 3:08 am
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/mobile/ … ang-attack
Watch Racist Tunnelbana Asassination>Racial Attack>
Jomo Kenyatta Cabinet Minister Under Attack No Security for the Privilaged any more in Kenya: The couple was attacked very brutally Were raped ironed and matchets driven inside their backs>
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000098466&story_title=former-mp-his-wife-hospitalised-after-brutal-gang-attack&pageNo=1
Onother False Flag ?This one NIS &KDF hoping Uhuru Kenyatta will get Defferral from the UNSC >Kweli the Kikuyus are very very Cunning than other Kenyan tribes>
An Open Letter to Uhuru Kenyatta on The Celebrations That Will Cost Kenya Kshs.50 Billion
18 November 2013
Dear President Uhuru Kenyatta
Forgive me son, this 50-year celebration costing us billions, forgive my ignorance, but what are we celebrating?
Regression,despondency & backwardness?
Some of these things need a reality check son,let me give you a brief–in your home town just a few miles from Nairobi, poverty & backwardness is not just a reality but a TOGA the people adorn.The face of poverty is women & children, walk over there.
Instead of these celebrations–lets seek an introspection, instead of inviting presidents to celebrate with you in that false island of comfort, son, invite a serious war on jiggers in Kiambu, a serious war on drought in Turkana, a serious war on food security in Kiambu, a serious war on rape in Naivasha, a serious war on joblessness on the youth & finally a serious war on runaway food prices on Kenyans.
That way we will celebrate in our hearts & history will be kind to you.Celebrating this so called 50 years will be a preserve of a few.
For example your children went to the best schools in S.A whilst William Samoei Ruto’s kids attend the best private schools in Australia & Kenya. Why don’t they attend public schools now that you are the heads of the State & Government? Doesn’t it mean you also don’t trust your own leadership to deliver in the public sector?
With this psychosis, I challenge you to deliver that way we will celebrate a real victory, not a victory for a few privileged re-hated as a Kenyan victory.Tell Ruto to visit Sugoi where people still dress in blankets like the stone age aborigines in Steve Mukula’s adopted Australia, whilst in Kiambu,I reserve my comment.
What will these people celebrate while in Baringo the njemps still live on tree tops like a Hawk (a kite which builds a house big enough to accommodate you & your Margy)?
A Concerned Citizen
Mkenya Kamili
A Kikuyu Ap (Tribal Police)goes bersek and attacks levellers inside a bar njuring them seriously with a matchet>>>
RUTO’S KAREN HOUSE TO COST SH100M MORE
..
Monday, January 20, 2014 – 00:00 — BY STAR REPORTER
Sh100m MANSION: Official Deputy President’s residence
Deputy President William Ruto will not be allowed to occupy his Sh453 million official Karen residence any time soon.
Sources familiar with the project told the Star another planned refurbishing may not be complete by the time the term of the current government ends in 2017.
The formica that had been fitted in the main lounge has been peeling off due to “poor workmanship”. This is one of the areas to be redone. The lounge also has no air conditioning while the tiles in the veranda have been growing mould.
By the time the refurbishing is done, the taxpayer will have spent another Sh100 million, according to insiders. This means the cost of the project will be pushed to around Sh553 million, up from the Sh197 million it was planned to consume when it was started in 2006.
Other works to be done include changes in the sitting room, bedrooms and offices, replacement of flush doors with mahogany ones, repairs on the perimeter wall around the 12-acre property, installation of CCTV cameras around the compound and the erection of electric fences.
Being the residence’s official occupier, the Deputy President is said to have occasionally proposed various changes including the reduction of the size of the windows.
A maisonettes that was meant for the caretaker is to be converted into an office expected to be used by the Deputy President’s wife Rachel Ruto.
The residence was first completed in September 2012 and handed over to the then Ministry of Home Affairs ready for occupation.The then Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka however did not move in as it was barely six months to the general election.
Government engineers also identified defects which they said must be rectified before the residence was occupied. Former President Mwai Kibaki however opted to officially open the house on November 15, 2012 after which Kalonzo started using its office space and gym facilities. In June last year, the government advertised the tender for the renovations of the residence. It is not clear yet which company won the tender but officials at the DP’s office told the Star that no one is on site.
The Star was further informed that the government was taken aback when about 10 companies that applied for the tender to do the refurbishing quoted more than the Sh100 million projected.
The residence comprises a main house with a master bedroom, three other bedrooms and two guest wings. Apart from the main house, the residence has a state-of-the-art office block, gazebo, gym, garage, generator house, swimming pool and comptroller’s unit.
It also has a security unit with an armoury, domestic staff quarters, pergola walkway, pump house, water treatment plant, borehole and tank.
The original contractor, Dimken Kenya, was awarded the tender for the residence on January 25, 2006 at a contract sum of Sh197 million and was expected to complete the project on January 27, 2007.
However, the contract was terminated on October 21, 2008 due to non-performance despite the contractor having been paid Sh70 million. The government then awarded the tender to a new company, Italbuild Imports at a contract sum of Sh383 million.
After being sworn in as Deputy President, Ruto announced that he was comfortable living in his Karen home even though the government had given him an official residence in the same neighborhood.
Ruto is said to occasionally use the office and gym facilities in the new residence, which is barely 2km from his private home.
…. – See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-151275/rutos-karen-house-cost-sh100m-more#sthash.qWFu0qlj.dpuf
Very sad momments for kenyans. Wish that we shall jump hurdles uninjured,