Karua formally launches national resource mobilization drive

Presidential candidate Martha Karua has finally formally launched her national resource mobilization drive at a dinner event held at the Carnivore on Friday evening.

The fundraising dinner was attended by professionals, mostly the middle class who came out in large numbers to support her presidential campaign.

Friday’s campaign follows the launch early this month of her campaign secretariat where she unveiled her campaign team headed by Mr Hussein Mohammed, a former sports executive.

A majority in her campaign team are volunteers whom she has endeared by her anti-corruption campaign approach and incessant calls for a moral economy and self-responsibility.

Ms Karua who is the Narc Kenya party leader has traversed all the 47 counties preaching an anti-corruption message, urging Kenyans to be wary of politicians with a past corruption record.

Speaking at the event, former National Oil Corporation managing director Mary Mukindia said her campaign secretariat consists of dedicated volunteers who support Ms Karua’s ideals.

She said unlike many other presidential candidates, Ms Karua travels by road around the country in all her campaigns so as to interact with the electorate and stay in touch with the realities on the ground.

“In our team, we think about the details, she is the most travelled around the country and she gets to see more travelling by road,” she said.

Her campaign secretariat is set to go national in its fundraising drive which involves resource mobilization through Mpesa, sms subscription, monthly dinners and online mobilization reaching out to her supporters in the Diaspora.

Ms Karua was recently in Machakos, Meru and Tharaka Nithi counties where she took her presidential campaigns.

On Friday, she reiterated her position that elections should be held in December this year. Anything beyond that will be breaking the law, she said.

She said yesterday that she was in the presidential race to win and not to leave her name in the history books as one of the presidential candidates.

“I am more than convinced that we are on the right track and truly this race is unstoppable,” she stated.

She said her campaign is funded by her friends. “You my dear friends are the ones who fund my campaign, she said urging for more support.”

The Gichugu MP who quit from President Mwai Kibaki’s cabinet as a Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs has ruled out any chances of entering a pre-election pact with any of the political parties and said that can only be considered after the general elections.

Her position in politics has been scoffed at by some Central Kenya politicians who see her as a rebel and a spoiler for challenging Deputy Prime Minister Raila Odinga for the top seat.