Kenya: Kenyatta and Ruto sign an agreement for the presidential election

The video: 
http://www.alqarra.tv/en/2012/12/04/kenya-kenyatta-and-ruto-sign-an-agreement-for-the-presidential-election/

They are both at the top of Kenyan politics. They also have in common to be indicted by the International Criminal Court. Now, they are signing a deal to run together for next elections. Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto will be running on the same ticket for the March 2013 vote.

Kenyatta is a leading figure for the Kikuyus in Kenya. Ruto is a former minister from the Kalenjin tribe, dismissed after repeated accusations of corruption. They promise an alliance that would put an end to ethnic hatred…

Party Leader, National Alliance Party, Uhuru Kenyatta: "From the time we were falsely accused we stood in front of the nation and the world and said we are determined to follow due process and to follow the law to clear our names, that my friends does not mean that we must be denied our rights."

Party Leader, United Republican Party, William Ruto: "Under our leadership and watch, never again will blood be shed, property destroyed on account of political competition."

The agreement was announced in Naruku in the rift valley, where post electoral violence was the highest in 2008.

It states that Kenyatta will run for president and Ruto for vice-president. But according to analysts, despite their popularity, victory is not yet closer because of the deal.

Political Analyst, Tom Maliti: "Well, we are not there yet, they have not been elected and they have not won the election so they still have to fight in the elections and I think that is going to be their biggest challenge because all that William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta have done is to consolidate what they presume to be their support base. They are yet to speak to the rest of the country and present their platform."

Another obstacle is that the ICC might issue arrest warrants against the two indicted candidates.

Political Analyst, Tom Maliti: "If the court issues arrest warrants against the two individuals that will have huge implications for the country because it will be assumed to the rest of the world that the leadership of Kenya  are wanted criminals, accused people and therefore there will be questions asked in different capitals, in the continent in Africa and also in the world about whether those countries can do business with Kenya."

Kenya’s presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled in March 2013. The country has voted on a new Constitution in August 2010 in order to avoid repeating a terrible and violent scenario during the polls but recently tensions and violence have occurred in the North and along the Indian Ocean coastal region.