Kibaki Is Waiting For ODM Split, To Call Early Elections

According to the Kenyan constitution, the president has the power to dissolve parliament and call for general elections whenever he feels like it. Many feel that President Kibaki is bound to use this as his weapon to catch the opposition unawares and guarantee himself re-election amid mounting pressure from Kenyans to kick him out of office.

The popular belief among the political class is that Kibaki is waiting for ODM Kenya to complete their presidential nominations which he expects will ultimately cause a major split in their ranks. This will favor Narc Kenya, which will openly accept the ODM losers and even offer them ministerial positions in the next government all in a desperate bid to ensure that Kibaki is re-elected.

It is also common belief that the government has its spies in ODM who are feeding the Kibaki administration with all the intended moves of the opposition to the effect that those in power can anticipate decisions taken by the opposition before they are even made public which is a big advantage when it comes to waging a propaganda war.

Majority of Kenyans are not against Kibaki for his policies or his leadership skills but for the simple reason that he has allowed tribalism to rear its ugly head in his administration and the fact that he has so many elderly grandpas managing key sectors of government yet majority of those who voted for him are the youth.

President Kibaki is known for not being decisive but his advisors and handlers are known to be overzealous and forthright to the extend that they often arm-twist their proposals through to take vital decisions which in most occasions are not popular with majority of Kenyans who feel that the president is being held hostage by his increasingly influential kitchen cabinet which consists of men above 70 years with extremely selfish interests.

Prior to the 2002 elections Kibaki is on record as saying that he would only rule for one term and begged the leading lights of NARC to allow him be the presidential candidate on the understanding that he would not seek re-election after completing his first term. All this was also in the memorandum of understanding that has long been trashed in the dustbin by Kibaki.

Plenty of water has flowed under the bridge ever since Kibaki took over and besides kicking out of government those who propelled him to power, he has reneged on several unwritten agreements he made with other members of the ruling coalition which has caused a lot of discontent among most Kenyans.

His most recent move that has incensed the opposition is the recent appointment of electoral commissioners which Kibaki went ahead and appointed without consulting the other political parties as per agreements made during the inter party parliamentary group meetings in president Moi's era.

This move was taken very badly by the opposition who now accuse Kibaki of rigging the general elections in advance by selecting his cronies to head the all-important commission that supervises elections.

To make matters worse, Kibaki has chosen to remain silent over the issue and has left it to his foot soldiers to justify the appointments to the chagrin of the political parties and civil societies who have vowed to vote him out for his betrayal.

The country's leading weekly newspaper, the Sunday Nation has also predicted that the polls could be held earlier than expected while others say the recent moves by the Kibaki administration is to cause anxiety and panic among the opposition ranks and prompt them to make hasty decisions with devastating results so as to ensure Kibaki returns to State House amid confusion among those opposed to his lackluster leadership that has been plagued by scandals and self-created crisis’s.
Despite all the tricks that Kibaki and his henchmen are using, it still will not be easy for Kibaki to be re-elected as his government is getting more unpopular by the day as his cabinet ministers who are notorious for political blunders continue to soil the governments name through irresponsible rhetoric and bad behaviour in public not to mention the astronomical salaries and allowances they draw from public coffers in a country where about 70% of the people live below the poverty line.