I’m in race for State House: Balala

Tourism minister Najib Balala has formally declared he will run for president next year.

The minister said he would challenge Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto in the race.

He said he should be “taken seriously,” adding that the time had come for a focused leader to take over leadership of the country.

“Time has come for a new order in this republic, and only leadership of vision and mission can salvage it from the current mismanagement,” he said.

The minister was speaking at Mwavumbo in Kinango constituency when he led local residents to raise over Sh400,000 for Jipe Moyo Women’s Group’s social hall project.

He said there were plans to form a political party in the Coast region that would sponsor him to seek the highest office in the land.

“For us to be relevant, we must have an homegrown party that will bring everybody on board and raise our stakes in the national political arena,” he said.

The minister, who is one of the “rebel” ODM members who broke ranks with Prime Minister and party leader Raila Odinga, warned that any leader found to sabotage the “clarion call” for coastal unity would be thrown out of the “vehicle”.

“Whoever is willing to support this cause will be welcome, but whoever opposes it will be dumped. We shall gauge our strength and assess if we will go it alone or enter into pre-election or post-election coalitions with others,” he said.

On his presidential bid, Mr Balala said it would be determined by the magnitude of home support and asked the coastal people to bury their tribal, religious and political differences.

“Let us first be ashamed of our past mistakes. Mijikenda, Arabs and all coastal people cannot be separated from one another because we are all faced with unique issues. We must bury our differences and should not be divided by outsiders,” he said.

“It is time for us to have one of our own to lead this country because we have spent many years supporting others. Now it’s our turn.”

Lands assistant minister Gonzi Rai backed Mr Balala’s quest for the presidency.

“That is a noble cause. We all support it,” Mr Rai told the Sunday Nation on Saturday.

In his speech during the fundraiser, Mr Balala told his constituents that their voting pattern in the next General Election would determine their destiny.

Praising them for voting for the new Constitution last year, he urged them to be prudent in the choice of the political direction they want to take in the run-up to the 2012 elections.