Reuben Chesire kin: Why we are still bitter with DP Ruto over State House ‘slap’
Deputy President William Ruto (left) and former Cabinet minister Reuben Chesire.
The family of former assistant minister Reuben Chesire now say they have unfinished business with Deputy President William Ruto over the slapping incident at State House in 2002.
Mr Chesire’s widow Alice Chesire, sister and former nominated Senator Zipporah Kittony told Nation that they continue to live with bitterness as a family but said they have no malice in speaking now, so close to the elections on August 9.
“I am speaking now because there have been a lot of stories going around about this incident that happened to my late husband, Reuben Chesire, since the viral audio of the deputy president saying he almost slapped the president. I am not saying now to try and reduce his votes. I am saying it now because I want the voice of peace to be heard among Kenyans and even as we finish the elections, we need to speak peace among the youth and the politicians so that we have peace in this country,” said Mrs Chesire, currently a board member of the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
“In Eldoret, this is not an issue that can disappear. People keep reminding me about it, telling me that it is still an unfinished business,” she added.
Reports that the deputy president slapped Mr Chesire at State House in the run-up to the 2002 elections have been doing rounds and former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has stated that he witnessed the incident. At the time, Mr Ruto and Mr Chesire were both eyeing the Eldoret North parliamentary seat.
“I want my brother Ruto to deny that he slapped Reuben Chesire, the late MP for Eldoret North in State House. I was there,” Mr Musyoka recently said.
The two met at State House where they had gone to see then President Daniel Moi when the incident occurred though it is not clear if the former president witnessed it in person. Following the incident, Mr Chesire made a report with the police but never followed through with a case against the current deputy president.
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“There had been no bad blood between them except that they were opponents for the Eldoret North parliamentary seat. But that was not enough reason to slap him. You cannot carry enmity in politics,” said Mrs Kittony.
“This was a man who even offered his Mercedes Benz car to Ruto during his wedding. But instead of respecting him he slapped him at State House. My brother waited for him to seek forgiveness until he died. We are still living with those memories as a family,” Mrs Kittony added.
Mr Ruto’s office has said they are consulting with him before giving a response.
Mrs Chesire says that even though her late husband did not follow through on the report he had made with the police at Kileleshwa Police Station because he wanted to make peace with the current Deputy President, Mr Ruto never reached out.
“On that day he came back home and I could see he was in a lot of pain emotionally. One of his eyes red and painfully narrated to us what had happened to him,” said Mrs Chesire.
Though he had reported the case, he said the best thing to do was to get an opportunity to talk to Mr Ruto, which according to the late Chesire’s family, never happened.
“He had wanted Ruto to come to him with three wazees (elders) so that he could talk to the wazees and guide the young man in the right way. He waited for so long for William Ruto to come and seek forgiveness, and up to the time he exited in 2008, he had not come to say sorry,” says Mrs Chesire.
Reuben Chesire’s widow Alice Chesire (left) and former nominated Senator Zipporah Kittony.
Instead, Mrs Chesire says two allies of the deputy president – one a serving MP and another a prominent businessman in the hotel industry in Eldoret - have in recent times informally approached her promising to bring the deputy president to visit the family.
“I hold nothing against him. He only needed to have reached out to the family. The children are now adults and I am sure they want to put closure on this issue. I will call on the children and some of Mzee's relatives and friends, including Senator Zipporah Kittony, his brother Stephen Chesire and of course his children,” said Mrs Chesire.
The family remains affiliated to the independence party KANU which is currently led by Baringo Senator Gideon Moi and a member of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party. Speaking to Nation, they did not hide where they are leaning politically.
Mrs Chesire says that “if people find that he (Ruto) is not fit, he should wait and find peace within himself as he goes for the top position.”
“He needs to speak peace amongst the youth in this country,” she added.
Her sister-in-law, Mrs Kittony says she hopes Mr Ruto will not ascend to the presidency.
“You cannot trust such a person with the leadership of the country,” she said.
