Kibaki and Raila bid to quell public anger

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Sunday embarked on a series of public engagements intended to demonstrate leadership and quell public anger over corruption and food shortages.

The President, whose diary of appearances at rallies is ordinarily light, visited Thika and Yatta to assess the distribution of relief food.

Mr Odinga visited Kibera in his Lang’ata constituency and later addressed a rally at Isinya in Kajiado North constituency.

“You will see more of this in the coming days,” said an Office of the President official, who declined to be named discussing the itinerary of the two leaders.

Failed the nation

The two have come under severe criticism, most notably by religious leaders on Thursday, who told them that they had failed the nation and should accept responsibility for corruption, insecurity and food shortages.

While President Kibaki spoke about unity and asked leaders to stop insulting each other, the Prime Minister struck a more political note, confidently predicting that the Orange party will win power at the next election.

The difference in tone reflected the separate circumstances of the two leaders: while the President is retiring at the end of his term, Mr Odinga faces a tough presidential election in 2012.

Speaking at Isinya, the PM promised party supporters that sufficient measures will be in place to ensure that the 2012 election is not rigged.

He claimed to have won the disputed 2007 election “overwhelmingly” but was rigged out by the now defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya.

“Now that we have sent the ECK home, I am sure we will get there (presidency),” he said.

The Nation, in interviews with Mr Odinga’s ODM allies, understands that there is some discontent because Mr Odinga is seen as equally sharing the blame for government failures yet the President “took most of the executive powers”.

Some of those allies feel that the PM, to avoid carrying the baggage of government failure into the election, should begin to put some distance between himself and the government and this might explain his return to popular ODM themes such as the rigging of the 2007 election and majimbo.

On Thursday, Mr Odinga met a delegation of 70 leaders from his Nyanza stronghold who expressed their dissatisfaction with the provision of jobs and aid for the families of those killed or injured in the post-election violence.

Mr Odinga’s return to popular party themes on Sunday is likely to be seen as intended to shore up the morale of the party’s supporters.

The presence of Agriculture minister William Ruto, seen by some as an emerging rival to the PM in ODM, also sent a message of party unity, a theme that most speakers dwelt on at length.

Though Mr Odinga maintains he won the election, the true outcome remains clouded in confusion, with ECK declaring President Kibaki the winner by 250,000 votes and ODM claiming its victory was stolen.

Dispute

The ensuing dispute erupted in violence in which hundreds were killed and 600,000 displaced from their homes.

The PM’s personal secretary, Mr Karoli Omondi, told the Daily Nation that Mr Odinga had appointed former Cabinet minister Adhu Awiti his director of political affairs for better coordination and communication with grassroots leaders. He will have an office at the Jaramogi Odinga Foundation headquarters in Nairobi.

On Sunday, Prof George Saitoti, the local MP who is also the Party of National Unity chairman and Security minister and who will likely be vying for the presidency against Mr Odinga, asked ODM leaders to stop campaigning and concentrate on development.

Amid boos by his constituents, Prof Saitoti said: “You cannot campaign for five years. The elections are long gone and we should forget the past and build the nation.”

Asking to be respected as the area MP, Prof Saitoti said President Kibaki and Mr Odinga had agreed to work together and there was no need to continue competing over politics. ODM speakers announced plans to unite their leaders and supporters in readiness for the next elections.

Mr Odinga said Kenyans demonstrated, blocked roads and fought after the 2007 elections because of “Mr Kivuitu’s errors”.

He said some of the promises made by ODM during the campaigns had not been met because the government was working on the basis of two manifestoes – PNU and ODM.

“Our manifesto has been diluted; what the government is implementing is not what we promised Kenyans,” said the PM.

He said the government would give Kenyans a new constitution to ensure equity and create a majimbo (federal) system of government.

The debate was kicked off by Medical Services minister Anyang’ Nyong’o who said it was because of the party’s unity that Mr Ruto survived a vote of no confidence in Parliament and that ODM will only win the 2012 elections if it remained intact.

He was responding to calls by local leaders for party leaders to unite and heal their differences.

Roads Minister Franklin Bett said the party would not allow any official of ECK to be appointed to the new electoral agency. Only a person acceptable to all political parties will head the Interim Independent Electoral Commission, the leaders said.

Mr Bett called for the prosecution of those who allegedly “stole” the election before action is taken against the perpetrators of the poll violence.

He announced that Rift Valley MPs will soon hire lorries and remove Internally Displaced Persons still camping at Eldoret showground and take them back to their farms.

Political wars

Mr Ruto said it was not the wish of ODM to partner with PNU in the Grand Coalition saying it was “God who forced us to work together”.

“Our wish was to form government and PNU to be in opposition,” he said.

He called for an end to political infighting in the coalition.

“There’s a lot of fighting in the country every now and then. That is not what Kenyans want. We should not waste a chance of serving Kenyans through political wars,” he said.

Livestock assistant minister Aden Duale called for the removal of Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua to ensure Kenyans get a “good” constitution since she is eyeing the presidency.

Hostile mood

Mr J T Okinda, a Nairobi architect who was in the delegation to the PM’s office at the Treasury last Thursday told Mr Odinga: “You keep telling us we are in government but there is nothing to show for it on the ground and the public mood is hostile because of how appointments are being done, especially when they only go to people known to be your relatives.”

A memorandum from the delegation listed the issues the supporters want the prime minister to address.

On Sunday, it also emerged that Mr Odinga did not sign a letter of appointment sent to him by President Kibaki but instead asked for it to be amendment.

Contents of the President’s letter, exclusively reported by the Saturday Nation seemed to gag Mr Odinga and implied that it was the President appointing him although the appointment was by virtue of Mr Odinga being the leader of largest party in Parliament.