Join me or perish, Uhuru tells rivals
By JAMES KARIUKI
November 12 2012
Presidential hopeful Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday asked his rivals in Central Province to join his party to save their political careers.
He said Ms Martha Karua and Mr Peter Kenneth, Mr Mwangi Kiunjuri, Mr Nderitu Mureithi and Mr Jeremiah Kioni would be swept away by The National Alliance wave if they stuck with their parties.
He said his mission was to bring all politicians in central Kenya to his party to avoid going to the next elections as a divided house.
“Jeremiah Kioni (Ndaragwa MP) Nderitu Mureithi (Laikipia West), Mwangi Kiunjuri (Laikipia East), Peter Kenneth (Gatanga) and our heroine, Martha Karua (Gichugu) should be told forth that they are one of us and must join us now,” he said during a meet-the-people tour of Mr Mureithi’s Laikipia West constituency.
Ms Karua, the Narc-Kenya party leader, has vowed to have her name on the ballot box in the next elections. Mr Kenneth of the Kenya National Congress has also made a similar declaration.
Even though Mr Kiunjuri has said he supports Mr Kenyatta’s presidential bid, he has made it clear that he will field candidates for the positions of governor, senator, MP and county assembly representative through the Grand National Unity (GNU) party, which he heads.
Mr Mureithi and Mr Kioni are allied to the United Democratic Forum, whose presidential aspirant is Mr Musalia Mudavadi.
But in a rejoinder, Mr Kenneth said Kenyans were looking for a leader who would unite the whole country and not one relying on regional back-up.
Mr Kenyatta declared that all MPs seeking re-election in areas he enjoyed mass following must be in TNA “and if they are not known, they are not one of us and must be shown the door”.
Accompanied by 28 MPs allied to his party, he said not even Mr Kiunjuri would be spared in the clean-up purge since he had declined to join TNA.
“They are either in TNA or nowhere and must be given total blackout by voters. We are busy seeking ways of uniting Kenyans and it has to start here at home,” he said.
Mr Kenyatta’s strong position has been prompted by Mr Mureithi’s assertion that the UDF candidate was best placed to “take care” of the interest of the Kikuyu community.
The outburst on the issue clearly pointed to a widening gap between him and the UDF flag bearer and his supporters, who hoped that they could benefit if Mr Kenyatta and Mr Mudavadi joined forces to face their opponents.
Raila Odinga is the symbol of institutional reform in Kenya. He is the bridge between the dream that earlier Kenyan nationalists embraced and fought for and the future that Kenyans yearn for today.
He was sensitized to public and civic affairs as a young boy in the household of his father, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. His consciousness was drawn towards the search for just and fair governance as he witnessed his father and other nationalists fight for Kenya’s independence from the British.
The coming of independence did not, however, bring the justice that Kenyans had hoped for. Kenyans had hoped for the return of stolen lands. This did not happen. They had hoped to live and work anywhere without discrimination on the basis of tribe, race, age, gender, religion and such other factors. This has not happened.
Failure of the dream of independence led to the beginning of the struggle for the Second Liberation, spearheaded by Jaramogi, who boldly declared that it was Not Yet Uhuru. How could it be Uhuru when Kikuyu peasants who had been displaced from their lands in Central Kenya remained destitute in their own country? How could it be Uhuru when a new class of landlords took over from the colonial settlers?
It could not be Uhuru when the people of Rift Valley suffered injustice of stolen lands that remained in the lands of a few foreigners, and the people of Kenya’s coast remained destitute and squatters on their own ancestral lands. It could not be Uhuru when the people of Northeastern Kenya and numerous others from Rift Valley were treated like second-class citizens. It could not, indeed, be Uhuru when poverty, ignorance and disease kept the people of Kenya divided against each other at the behest of a corrupt government that employed ethnicity as a weapon to divide and rule.
Jaramogi became the face of the struggle against these abuses, in 1964. It is a struggle that often led to incarceration such that a young Raila found himself burdened with the challenges of becoming the head of the family at the tender age of 24, as Kenya’s newly independent government detained Jaramogi and other nationalists for seeking to arrest emerging corruption in Government, justice in redistribution and restoration of stolen land to poor families from Central Kenya and equality before the law.
It was a struggle into which he would soon be enjoined. In 1982, the Kanu Government detained him without trial for six years, for his agitation for his resistance against the one party dictatorship of the time. He would be detained twice over for his unremitting commitment to the struggle for fair government, the rule of law and justice for all.
After a stint in exile in Norway he came back home in 1991 to join other youthful Kenyans, generically referred to as the Young Turks, to fight for restoration of multi party democracy, which had been banned in 1982. This effort eventually bore fruit when in November 1991the Kenyan Constitution to restore multiparty democracy.
He devoted the next two decades to the struggle for comprehensive Constitutional reform. The Constitution review process experienced relentless frustration from two successive regimes. In 2005, Raila Odinga spearheaded the NO campaign against a flawed Constitution that the Narc Government offered to the Kenyan nation. This was the Orange Campaign that took its name from the orange as the symbol of the NO campaign.
The Orange Campaign was the mother of the ODM party, so called after the Orange Democratic Movement that said NO to a flawed constitutional offer. The same movement led the country to getting a new Constitution in August 2010. Kenya’s Constitution ranks among the best in the world today, on account of the freedoms and rights that it guarantees, civil liberties, institutional reform and public accountability. http://raila-odinga.com/new/raila-odinga-and-reform/
Why Raila Odinga is my candidate for president in 2013
October 22, 2012
NGUNJIRI WAMBUGU
I have spent the last couple of weeks speaking on what I do not like about a certain politician and some of the feedback I have received is that for the discussion to be complete I must move beyond what is wrong, and also share what is right.
In this regard over the next two weeks I will share five reasons why I believe the Rt. Hon Raila Amolo Odinga is the best candidate to take over from H.E. Mwai Kibaki in March 2013, as the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya.
Top of the list for me is the PM’s call for a united Kenya. Unlike the other frontrunners, the PM seems to be the only candidate not interested in ‘cutting’ Kenya into sections that then come together under him.
He seems to be the only one who has learnt that with the 2008 post-election violence such a fresh memory, it is dangerous to run an ethnically divisive campaign.
The issue of unity has become a primary pillar in his campaign message and everywhere he goes he strives to paint the picture of a Kenya that belongs to all Kenyans; a Kenya where all our races, tribes, religions, ages and/or genders have space to be themselves while working together harmoniously to grow the nation at all levels.
The PM is clearly the only person who day-in day-out is selling a message that under his government no Kenyan will be left behind at whatever level.
He has categorically stated that as far as he is concerned if a single Kenya is left behind, then all of Kenya lags behind. He is therefore selling his candidacy as that of someone who as President intends to unite Kenyans across their various diversities.
This contrasts sharply with what Prof Peter Kagwanja defines as ‘grievance politics’; manipulation of fault lines, tensions and cultural differences to win votes; a strategy that the key competitors against the PM have perfected as their ‘modus operandi’, and a key element that led to the 2008 post-election violence.
The second thing I like about Raila Odinga’s presidential bid is his commitment to full implementation of the constitution.
Everywhere he goes he states clearly that ODM is the ‘party of the constitution’, explained by the fact that it came about as a defiance to a bad Constitution in 2005, and was at the frontline in campaigning for Kenya’s new Constitution in 2010.
He is also the only candidate of the top five who has publicly stated that his government will fully implement, protect and defend the spirit AND letter of the Constitution.
He is also the only candidate who has publicly assured Kenyans that he will ensure that County Governments are fully established, empowered and resourced.
He is also the only candidate who has shown the capacity to do the uncomfortable to pass the Constitution, with a key highlight when he went against the decision by President Kibaki to nominate Justice Alnashir Visram for Chief Justice, because it was done outside the constitutional requirements.
The Prime Minister has therefore confirmed to me that when he says he will implement the Constitution it is not just talk; he is willing ‘to shake trees’ to ensure Kenyans get exactly what they voted for in 2010. This pleases me tremendously.
(Wambugu is the Executive Director of Change Associates Trust)
Why TNA, ODM two horse race will lock out reform in Kenya
By Murimi Mwangi
The two-horse-race cliché has dominated the presidential campaigns. The ODM team has already bestowed the reform tag on their horse and is rubbishing the G7 horse as a wagon of conformists of impunity.
However, this reformism-conformism gimmick is a lyric that the public must ignore since riders of both horses have a history of being merchants of impunity and none of them qualifies the title of a true reformist.
For starters, Uhuru Kenyatta has over history dirtied himself with the muck of impunity due to his relationship with all the post independent governments. He was a Moi project in 2002, despite being a political naïve then. It is widely believed that Uhuru never joined politics to serve the interest of the wide citizenry but to protect members of the elite class that had illegally amassed wealth during the Kenyatta and Moi regimes.
The unprecedented merger of KANU and other pro-Kibaki parties in 2007 into PNU was a deliberate attempt by Uhuru to remain politically relevant after his untenable loss to Kibaki in 2002. He did this with the hope of in inheriting the kikuyu chiefdom from Kibaki, which he has dully achieved despite having serious crimes against humanity in The Hague!
His rival horse rider, Raila Odinga’s credentials of reformism are pegged on his 7 years detention by president Moi, his vigorous campaign against the insubstantial 2005 constitution and eventually his efforts in acquisition of the new constitution. Ironically, Uhuru also rejected the 2005 draft and campaigned for the 2010 constitution alongside Raila. So why does Raila qualify to be a reformist for the same things that the alleged impunity-conformist also did?
Raila has also been acclaimed for his momentous role in bringing the lakeside nation into the Narc coalition of 2002 that trounced the 24 years of the despotic Kanu regime.
However, Miguna Miguna, in his memoir peeling back the mask claims that prior to Raila’s historical pronouncement, ‘Kibaki Tosha’, he was just from signing an MOU endorsing Nyachae’s presidential bid. This is a clear indicator of a wavering politician; an allegation that has also been confirmed by his former head of protocol Tony Gachoka.
Raila’s campaign strategy in the 2007 election to date still encapsulates serious suspicion. Muted allegations that he conducted the campaign based on a concealed agenda of 41 tribes against 1 (that fuelled the 2008 chaos), is a serious negatron of his alleged reformism.
Additionally, his occasional doublespeak on national matters also portrays a leader without a clear stand. In parliament he says MRC is a prescribed gang but at the Coast he has the guts to say that the armed hooligans wrecking havoc there can come to a round table with him and discuss peace!
At one time he says that ICC suspects should be locked up in Kamiti Maximum prison, but later on we hear he is in serious coalition talks with Ruto, one of the ICC suspects.
Paradoxically, both Uhuru and Raila claim that they would fast track the full implementation of the constitution upon election. However, for Uhuru to be given the green light to even contest the presidency a flawed integrity bill mutilating chapter 6 of the constitution has to be effected- that tells a lot about what would be his style of constitution implementation.
Raila’s promise of speedily implementing the constitution also sounds ridiculous. On one hand he wants to forge an alliance with Ruto, yet that can’t happen unless the integrity Bill is blemished to allow Ruto into the arena. Additionally, how will Raila Marshall his government to implement the constitution if he brings aboard Ruto who captained the rejection of the draft by the Kalenjin nation?
A true reformist is an indefatigable leader that not only stands by a single voice but who also walks their talk.
However, none of the two horses prognosticated as key contenders for the presidency pass the test of reformism! Perhaps we should select among the rest who have been discarded as insignificant by the polls.
The writer is a communication and media student at Maseno university
In 2006, Raila Amolo Odinga was awarded the honor of ‘Champion of Democracy 2006’ by Africa Link, an organization based in Switzerland under the banner of Africa Link Solidarity Award for Champion of Democracy and Transparency.
These words were cited in his honor: “As an ambitious political leader, you have recognized the preeminence of the national interest over and above your personal ambition…. Africa Link recognizes your contribution and through you, the millions of your countrymen and women who are committed to a democratic and peaceful development of your country, Kenya.”
They thnk bcz obama won Raila will won bt thiz nt true my frds, don waste ua energy campaining ju it cant n will neva be at western pliz pliz b strong.
Why Uhuru Kenyatta Is A Cornered Man
By Michael Farah on 2012-08-30
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is a man who has risen through the political ladder swiftly after being nominated as Member of Parliament and subsequently appointed to the position of Minister for Local Government in 2001. He later contested the presidency on a Kanu party ticket in 2002 losing to President Kibaki.
After the 2002 elections, he became the leader of the official opposition later working in tandem with disjointed members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headed by Raila Odinga following complaints of being shortchanged in a pre-election Memorandum of Understanding between LDP and National Alliance of Kenya (NAK).
In the run-up to the 2007 elections, Uhuru Kenyatta joined hands with President Kibaki making history as the first opposition leader to forgo his presidential bid to support the sitting president, at least in the Kenyan context.
His rise has been attributed to the fact that a number of Kikuyu individuals view him as a tough politician who can be able to represent them and equally fight for the protection of their economic empire. The Kikuyu elite viewed him as the one who would protect their wealth, especially due to the fact that the source of Kenyatta family’s wealth has been questionable.
Though he has been enjoying massive support from the Kikuyu elite, there has been a gradual drift of this class towards Prime Minister Raila Odinga. This is principally because of the Kikuyu factor with this class feeling that it will be a tall order for another Kikuyu to succeed president Kibaki. This class is therefore looking for someone who has higher chances of winning so that their economic activities are accorded free hand in the incoming political leadership. There is also a burning feeling that because of Uhuru Kenyatta’s financial muscle and his position within the government, he is not easily influence through money. He has evidently been associating with the young politicians at the chagrin of the rich political and business bigwigs.
Through his tough approach on issues, economic network and his financial capacity, he has been able to secure a great support from the community for his political bid. With Kibaki retiring after his two terms, Central Kenya has been on the search for someone who will politically lead the community after President Kibaki. The other personalities who have also fought for this position are Martha Karua and Peter Kenneth but who have not been able to make any substantial impact.
Uhuru’s biggest challenge is the issue of the charges at The International Criminal Court. The international community is definitely putting pressure on Kenya’s leadership to bar Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto from running for the top seat. This analysis examines Uhuru Kenyatta’s chances in case he is cleared to vie for the top seat.
With the support from Central Kenya the largest voting bloc, what are Uhuru Kenyatta’s chances of winning the 2013 presidential elections?
If free and fair elections are held within the G7 Alliance to front a single presidential candidate, it is highly likely that Uhuru Kenyatta will emerge the winner which would be a very big boost to his candidature. This is the reason a number of the G7 Alliance members have been non-committal on the idea of fielding a joint candidate for the presidency. If they agree to take that avenue, with the aim of stopping Raila Odinga, Uhuru will be left with just a few more hurdles.
Secondly, if the members of the G7 Alliance agree to run separately with the deal that they support whoever will be number one or number two in the first round, it is highly likely that Uhuru will beat all the contenders to either be number one or two. This will propel him to go for the run-off if there is no clear winner in the first round.
Thirdly, with the rifts already evident in the G7, the contenders might as well go to the polls without any pre-election pacts. This is highly likely to result into the aforementioned scenario where Uhuru Kenyatta is either number one or number two. In case Uhuru gets 50% +1 votes, he shall be the 4th president of Kenya.
What if there is a run-off pitting Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta?
In a situation where there is no pre-election pact, the members of the G7 Alliance, William Ruto, Eugene Wamalwa, Kalonzo Musyoka and the other possible contenders will be free to support either of the candidates. This will put Uhuru in a tricky situation particularly because of the Kikuyu factor. Kenyans are still struggling with the fact that having another Kikuyu succeed president Kibaki is a possibility and enshrined in the constitution as well; it is the votes to decide.
In a balance of numbers, there will be a split of votes in favor of Raila and Uhuru. With Raila securing Luo Nyanza and Uhuru Kikuyu Central, the other voting blocs will be out for grab. If Uhuru and his team do not handle the Kikuyu factor very carefully, he will give Raila an easy ride to state house.
Uhuru therefore has to work towards projecting himself more as a Kenyan whose leadership will benefit all corners of the country. His team of young and qualified professionals should ensure that the politics of chest thumping is thrown to the garbage and to promise Kenyans that he will take stern action against corrupt individuals who have looted public property, enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public affairs, ensure balance in resource allocation as spelt out in the constitution and embrace regional balance in the distribution of public appointments.
This cannot be later but now since we are having the elections in a few months time.
“Me and My Family can support you but my people (GEMA) will NEVER support you ” Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta’s message to William Samoei Ruto. Kikuyus and Kalenjins cant work together politically.
Join me or perish, Uhuru tells rivals
By JAMES KARIUKI
November 12 2012
Presidential hopeful Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday asked his rivals in Central Province to join his party to save their political careers.
He said Ms Martha Karua and Mr Peter Kenneth, Mr Mwangi Kiunjuri, Mr Nderitu Mureithi and Mr Jeremiah Kioni would be swept away by The National Alliance wave if they stuck with their parties.
He said his mission was to bring all politicians in central Kenya to his party to avoid going to the next elections as a divided house.
“Jeremiah Kioni (Ndaragwa MP) Nderitu Mureithi (Laikipia West), Mwangi Kiunjuri (Laikipia East), Peter Kenneth (Gatanga) and our heroine, Martha Karua (Gichugu) should be told forth that they are one of us and must join us now,” he said during a meet-the-people tour of Mr Mureithi’s Laikipia West constituency.
Ms Karua, the Narc-Kenya party leader, has vowed to have her name on the ballot box in the next elections. Mr Kenneth of the Kenya National Congress has also made a similar declaration.
Even though Mr Kiunjuri has said he supports Mr Kenyatta’s presidential bid, he has made it clear that he will field candidates for the positions of governor, senator, MP and county assembly representative through the Grand National Unity (GNU) party, which he heads.
Mr Mureithi and Mr Kioni are allied to the United Democratic Forum, whose presidential aspirant is Mr Musalia Mudavadi.
But in a rejoinder, Mr Kenneth said Kenyans were looking for a leader who would unite the whole country and not one relying on regional back-up.
Mr Kenyatta declared that all MPs seeking re-election in areas he enjoyed mass following must be in TNA “and if they are not known, they are not one of us and must be shown the door”.
Accompanied by 28 MPs allied to his party, he said not even Mr Kiunjuri would be spared in the clean-up purge since he had declined to join TNA.
“They are either in TNA or nowhere and must be given total blackout by voters. We are busy seeking ways of uniting Kenyans and it has to start here at home,” he said.
Mr Kenyatta’s strong position has been prompted by Mr Mureithi’s assertion that the UDF candidate was best placed to “take care” of the interest of the Kikuyu community.
The outburst on the issue clearly pointed to a widening gap between him and the UDF flag bearer and his supporters, who hoped that they could benefit if Mr Kenyatta and Mr Mudavadi joined forces to face their opponents.
RAILA ODINGA AND REFORM
Raila Odinga is the symbol of institutional reform in Kenya. He is the bridge between the dream that earlier Kenyan nationalists embraced and fought for and the future that Kenyans yearn for today.
He was sensitized to public and civic affairs as a young boy in the household of his father, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. His consciousness was drawn towards the search for just and fair governance as he witnessed his father and other nationalists fight for Kenya’s independence from the British.
The coming of independence did not, however, bring the justice that Kenyans had hoped for. Kenyans had hoped for the return of stolen lands. This did not happen. They had hoped to live and work anywhere without discrimination on the basis of tribe, race, age, gender, religion and such other factors. This has not happened.
Failure of the dream of independence led to the beginning of the struggle for the Second Liberation, spearheaded by Jaramogi, who boldly declared that it was Not Yet Uhuru. How could it be Uhuru when Kikuyu peasants who had been displaced from their lands in Central Kenya remained destitute in their own country? How could it be Uhuru when a new class of landlords took over from the colonial settlers?
It could not be Uhuru when the people of Rift Valley suffered injustice of stolen lands that remained in the lands of a few foreigners, and the people of Kenya’s coast remained destitute and squatters on their own ancestral lands. It could not be Uhuru when the people of Northeastern Kenya and numerous others from Rift Valley were treated like second-class citizens. It could not, indeed, be Uhuru when poverty, ignorance and disease kept the people of Kenya divided against each other at the behest of a corrupt government that employed ethnicity as a weapon to divide and rule.
Jaramogi became the face of the struggle against these abuses, in 1964. It is a struggle that often led to incarceration such that a young Raila found himself burdened with the challenges of becoming the head of the family at the tender age of 24, as Kenya’s newly independent government detained Jaramogi and other nationalists for seeking to arrest emerging corruption in Government, justice in redistribution and restoration of stolen land to poor families from Central Kenya and equality before the law.
It was a struggle into which he would soon be enjoined. In 1982, the Kanu Government detained him without trial for six years, for his agitation for his resistance against the one party dictatorship of the time. He would be detained twice over for his unremitting commitment to the struggle for fair government, the rule of law and justice for all.
After a stint in exile in Norway he came back home in 1991 to join other youthful Kenyans, generically referred to as the Young Turks, to fight for restoration of multi party democracy, which had been banned in 1982. This effort eventually bore fruit when in November 1991the Kenyan Constitution to restore multiparty democracy.
He devoted the next two decades to the struggle for comprehensive Constitutional reform. The Constitution review process experienced relentless frustration from two successive regimes. In 2005, Raila Odinga spearheaded the NO campaign against a flawed Constitution that the Narc Government offered to the Kenyan nation. This was the Orange Campaign that took its name from the orange as the symbol of the NO campaign.
The Orange Campaign was the mother of the ODM party, so called after the Orange Democratic Movement that said NO to a flawed constitutional offer. The same movement led the country to getting a new Constitution in August 2010. Kenya’s Constitution ranks among the best in the world today, on account of the freedoms and rights that it guarantees, civil liberties, institutional reform and public accountability.
http://raila-odinga.com/new/raila-odinga-and-reform/
Why Raila Odinga is my candidate for president in 2013
October 22, 2012
NGUNJIRI WAMBUGU
I have spent the last couple of weeks speaking on what I do not like about a certain politician and some of the feedback I have received is that for the discussion to be complete I must move beyond what is wrong, and also share what is right.
In this regard over the next two weeks I will share five reasons why I believe the Rt. Hon Raila Amolo Odinga is the best candidate to take over from H.E. Mwai Kibaki in March 2013, as the fourth President of the Republic of Kenya.
Top of the list for me is the PM’s call for a united Kenya. Unlike the other frontrunners, the PM seems to be the only candidate not interested in ‘cutting’ Kenya into sections that then come together under him.
He seems to be the only one who has learnt that with the 2008 post-election violence such a fresh memory, it is dangerous to run an ethnically divisive campaign.
The issue of unity has become a primary pillar in his campaign message and everywhere he goes he strives to paint the picture of a Kenya that belongs to all Kenyans; a Kenya where all our races, tribes, religions, ages and/or genders have space to be themselves while working together harmoniously to grow the nation at all levels.
The PM is clearly the only person who day-in day-out is selling a message that under his government no Kenyan will be left behind at whatever level.
He has categorically stated that as far as he is concerned if a single Kenya is left behind, then all of Kenya lags behind. He is therefore selling his candidacy as that of someone who as President intends to unite Kenyans across their various diversities.
This contrasts sharply with what Prof Peter Kagwanja defines as ‘grievance politics’; manipulation of fault lines, tensions and cultural differences to win votes; a strategy that the key competitors against the PM have perfected as their ‘modus operandi’, and a key element that led to the 2008 post-election violence.
The second thing I like about Raila Odinga’s presidential bid is his commitment to full implementation of the constitution.
Everywhere he goes he states clearly that ODM is the ‘party of the constitution’, explained by the fact that it came about as a defiance to a bad Constitution in 2005, and was at the frontline in campaigning for Kenya’s new Constitution in 2010.
He is also the only candidate of the top five who has publicly stated that his government will fully implement, protect and defend the spirit AND letter of the Constitution.
He is also the only candidate who has publicly assured Kenyans that he will ensure that County Governments are fully established, empowered and resourced.
He is also the only candidate who has shown the capacity to do the uncomfortable to pass the Constitution, with a key highlight when he went against the decision by President Kibaki to nominate Justice Alnashir Visram for Chief Justice, because it was done outside the constitutional requirements.
The Prime Minister has therefore confirmed to me that when he says he will implement the Constitution it is not just talk; he is willing ‘to shake trees’ to ensure Kenyans get exactly what they voted for in 2010. This pleases me tremendously.
(Wambugu is the Executive Director of Change Associates Trust)
Why TNA, ODM two horse race will lock out reform in Kenya
By Murimi Mwangi
The two-horse-race cliché has dominated the presidential campaigns. The ODM team has already bestowed the reform tag on their horse and is rubbishing the G7 horse as a wagon of conformists of impunity.
However, this reformism-conformism gimmick is a lyric that the public must ignore since riders of both horses have a history of being merchants of impunity and none of them qualifies the title of a true reformist.
For starters, Uhuru Kenyatta has over history dirtied himself with the muck of impunity due to his relationship with all the post independent governments. He was a Moi project in 2002, despite being a political naïve then. It is widely believed that Uhuru never joined politics to serve the interest of the wide citizenry but to protect members of the elite class that had illegally amassed wealth during the Kenyatta and Moi regimes.
The unprecedented merger of KANU and other pro-Kibaki parties in 2007 into PNU was a deliberate attempt by Uhuru to remain politically relevant after his untenable loss to Kibaki in 2002. He did this with the hope of in inheriting the kikuyu chiefdom from Kibaki, which he has dully achieved despite having serious crimes against humanity in The Hague!
His rival horse rider, Raila Odinga’s credentials of reformism are pegged on his 7 years detention by president Moi, his vigorous campaign against the insubstantial 2005 constitution and eventually his efforts in acquisition of the new constitution. Ironically, Uhuru also rejected the 2005 draft and campaigned for the 2010 constitution alongside Raila. So why does Raila qualify to be a reformist for the same things that the alleged impunity-conformist also did?
Raila has also been acclaimed for his momentous role in bringing the lakeside nation into the Narc coalition of 2002 that trounced the 24 years of the despotic Kanu regime.
However, Miguna Miguna, in his memoir peeling back the mask claims that prior to Raila’s historical pronouncement, ‘Kibaki Tosha’, he was just from signing an MOU endorsing Nyachae’s presidential bid. This is a clear indicator of a wavering politician; an allegation that has also been confirmed by his former head of protocol Tony Gachoka.
Raila’s campaign strategy in the 2007 election to date still encapsulates serious suspicion. Muted allegations that he conducted the campaign based on a concealed agenda of 41 tribes against 1 (that fuelled the 2008 chaos), is a serious negatron of his alleged reformism.
Additionally, his occasional doublespeak on national matters also portrays a leader without a clear stand. In parliament he says MRC is a prescribed gang but at the Coast he has the guts to say that the armed hooligans wrecking havoc there can come to a round table with him and discuss peace!
At one time he says that ICC suspects should be locked up in Kamiti Maximum prison, but later on we hear he is in serious coalition talks with Ruto, one of the ICC suspects.
Paradoxically, both Uhuru and Raila claim that they would fast track the full implementation of the constitution upon election. However, for Uhuru to be given the green light to even contest the presidency a flawed integrity bill mutilating chapter 6 of the constitution has to be effected- that tells a lot about what would be his style of constitution implementation.
Raila’s promise of speedily implementing the constitution also sounds ridiculous. On one hand he wants to forge an alliance with Ruto, yet that can’t happen unless the integrity Bill is blemished to allow Ruto into the arena. Additionally, how will Raila Marshall his government to implement the constitution if he brings aboard Ruto who captained the rejection of the draft by the Kalenjin nation?
A true reformist is an indefatigable leader that not only stands by a single voice but who also walks their talk.
However, none of the two horses prognosticated as key contenders for the presidency pass the test of reformism! Perhaps we should select among the rest who have been discarded as insignificant by the polls.
The writer is a communication and media student at Maseno university
In 2006, Raila Amolo Odinga was awarded the honor of ‘Champion of Democracy 2006’ by Africa Link, an organization based in Switzerland under the banner of Africa Link Solidarity Award for Champion of Democracy and Transparency.
These words were cited in his honor: “As an ambitious political leader, you have recognized the preeminence of the national interest over and above your personal ambition…. Africa Link recognizes your contribution and through you, the millions of your countrymen and women who are committed to a democratic and peaceful development of your country, Kenya.”
They thnk bcz obama won Raila will won bt thiz nt true my frds, don waste ua energy campaining ju it cant n will neva be at western pliz pliz b strong.
Why Uhuru Kenyatta Is A Cornered Man
By Michael Farah on 2012-08-30
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is a man who has risen through the political ladder swiftly after being nominated as Member of Parliament and subsequently appointed to the position of Minister for Local Government in 2001. He later contested the presidency on a Kanu party ticket in 2002 losing to President Kibaki.
After the 2002 elections, he became the leader of the official opposition later working in tandem with disjointed members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headed by Raila Odinga following complaints of being shortchanged in a pre-election Memorandum of Understanding between LDP and National Alliance of Kenya (NAK).
In the run-up to the 2007 elections, Uhuru Kenyatta joined hands with President Kibaki making history as the first opposition leader to forgo his presidential bid to support the sitting president, at least in the Kenyan context.
His rise has been attributed to the fact that a number of Kikuyu individuals view him as a tough politician who can be able to represent them and equally fight for the protection of their economic empire. The Kikuyu elite viewed him as the one who would protect their wealth, especially due to the fact that the source of Kenyatta family’s wealth has been questionable.
Though he has been enjoying massive support from the Kikuyu elite, there has been a gradual drift of this class towards Prime Minister Raila Odinga. This is principally because of the Kikuyu factor with this class feeling that it will be a tall order for another Kikuyu to succeed president Kibaki. This class is therefore looking for someone who has higher chances of winning so that their economic activities are accorded free hand in the incoming political leadership. There is also a burning feeling that because of Uhuru Kenyatta’s financial muscle and his position within the government, he is not easily influence through money. He has evidently been associating with the young politicians at the chagrin of the rich political and business bigwigs.
Through his tough approach on issues, economic network and his financial capacity, he has been able to secure a great support from the community for his political bid. With Kibaki retiring after his two terms, Central Kenya has been on the search for someone who will politically lead the community after President Kibaki. The other personalities who have also fought for this position are Martha Karua and Peter Kenneth but who have not been able to make any substantial impact.
Uhuru’s biggest challenge is the issue of the charges at The International Criminal Court. The international community is definitely putting pressure on Kenya’s leadership to bar Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto from running for the top seat. This analysis examines Uhuru Kenyatta’s chances in case he is cleared to vie for the top seat.
With the support from Central Kenya the largest voting bloc, what are Uhuru Kenyatta’s chances of winning the 2013 presidential elections?
If free and fair elections are held within the G7 Alliance to front a single presidential candidate, it is highly likely that Uhuru Kenyatta will emerge the winner which would be a very big boost to his candidature. This is the reason a number of the G7 Alliance members have been non-committal on the idea of fielding a joint candidate for the presidency. If they agree to take that avenue, with the aim of stopping Raila Odinga, Uhuru will be left with just a few more hurdles.
Secondly, if the members of the G7 Alliance agree to run separately with the deal that they support whoever will be number one or number two in the first round, it is highly likely that Uhuru will beat all the contenders to either be number one or two. This will propel him to go for the run-off if there is no clear winner in the first round.
Thirdly, with the rifts already evident in the G7, the contenders might as well go to the polls without any pre-election pacts. This is highly likely to result into the aforementioned scenario where Uhuru Kenyatta is either number one or number two. In case Uhuru gets 50% +1 votes, he shall be the 4th president of Kenya.
What if there is a run-off pitting Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta?
In a situation where there is no pre-election pact, the members of the G7 Alliance, William Ruto, Eugene Wamalwa, Kalonzo Musyoka and the other possible contenders will be free to support either of the candidates. This will put Uhuru in a tricky situation particularly because of the Kikuyu factor. Kenyans are still struggling with the fact that having another Kikuyu succeed president Kibaki is a possibility and enshrined in the constitution as well; it is the votes to decide.
In a balance of numbers, there will be a split of votes in favor of Raila and Uhuru. With Raila securing Luo Nyanza and Uhuru Kikuyu Central, the other voting blocs will be out for grab. If Uhuru and his team do not handle the Kikuyu factor very carefully, he will give Raila an easy ride to state house.
Uhuru therefore has to work towards projecting himself more as a Kenyan whose leadership will benefit all corners of the country. His team of young and qualified professionals should ensure that the politics of chest thumping is thrown to the garbage and to promise Kenyans that he will take stern action against corrupt individuals who have looted public property, enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public affairs, ensure balance in resource allocation as spelt out in the constitution and embrace regional balance in the distribution of public appointments.
This cannot be later but now since we are having the elections in a few months time.
Raila is the man for state hse; orelse history will judge Kenyans hurshly. Behold: roses have thorns & thorns have roses; caveat empto ye Kenyans
“Me and My Family can support you but my people (GEMA) will NEVER support you ” Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta’s message to William Samoei Ruto. Kikuyus and Kalenjins cant work together politically.