PM welcomes Mudavadi’s challenge

Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Saturday reiterated that his deputy, Mr Musalia Mudavadi, has a right to challenge him for the ODM presidential ticket.

Speaking during the burial of retired ACK Bishop Eliud Okiring in Hoito, Mt Elgon District, Mr Odinga said Mr Mudavadi’s candidature is part of ODM’s internal democracy.

Not comment

The PM, however, did not comment on President Kibaki’s stand that the General Election should be held next year.

On Friday, the President said the polls should be held by March 2013, consistent with a constitutional court ruling. Mr Odinga has rooted for a December poll, adding that Parliament will have a say in fixing the elections date.

Accompanied by Fisheries minister Paul Otuoma, assistant minister Alfred Khangati, Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi and ACK Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Mr Odinga said there were no differences between him and Mr Mudavadi as portrayed by ODM critics.

“Musalia has a right to vie against Raila and, if defeated, he should support Raila and if I am defeated, I will support Musalia,” Mr Odinga told hundreds of mourners.

The PM said ODM was intact, adding that it was only some of his and Mr Mudavadi’s supporters fighting over the nomination.

Mr Mudavadi has launched a campaign for the ODM presidential ticket, something that Mr Odinga’s allies are against, saying the party leader should be the automatic candidate.

Mr Odinga also dismissed his opponents’ attempts to unite under various alliances to frustrate his presidential bid.

“Even if they are G7, G3 or G100, ODM is ready to beat them hands down in the next elections,” he said.

Mr Odinga said his party had forged a bond with Ford-Kenya, which is led by Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula. “We and Ford-Kenya are friends and have been working together,” he said.

Mr Odinga, Archbishop Wabukala, Mr Otuoma and other speakers eulogised Bishop Okiring as a true defender of Kenyans. They noted that Bishop Okiring’s struggle led to reforms in the Anglican Church and increased dioceses from nine to the current 30.

Mr Odinga said the bishop inspired politicians to fight for change and the removal of Section 2A of the Constitution.

“When we saw Okiring succeed in the fight for creation of Katakwa diocese, we also started agitating for reforms in the country, which led to multi-partyism. We were arrested and detained but we soldiered on,” he said.

He also paid tribute to the late Bishops Alexander Muge and Henry Okullu for their role in bringing change to Kenya in the 1990s when the fight for a new Constitution started.

The PM called on Kenyans to be vigilant to ensure that the Constitution is implemented to honour the struggles of the country’s liberators.