Kalonzo Musyoka collected his nomination forms for the presidency this morning (Kenyan time) from the ODM headquarters and had two interesting comments to make.
Firstly he said that although he was the last to collect the forms he was following the Biblical principal. He was clearly referring to the place where the Bible says that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Insinuating that in the ODM presidential race, he was bound to win now that he was the last to collect the nomination forms.
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Also published today
What job is Kibaki planning to give Moi now?
Quip of the day
Whenever Kumekucha starts discussing tribalism he is taking a cheap shot at a certain prominent tribe in Kenya.
Regular reader of this blog who Kumekucha has a crash on
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Then he complained, without mentioning names, that it was wrong for somebody to claim that they were the front-runner when they knew very well that it was yet to be agreed on at party level on who was going to be the flag bearer for the presidency.
It is clear that Kalonzo was referring to his main rival for the ODM presidential ticket Raila Odinga, whose campaign has gone into overdrive ever since the launch of his vision at a well attended function at the KICC Plenary Hall last Sunday.
In a way it was inevitable that Raila's aggression and stepping up of his campaign after the launch was bound to cause jitters amongst his colleagues within ODM. There are those who would argue that it may not be a good idea to campaign so aggressively before the party officially names its' flag bearer. But those who would argue in this way have absolutely no experience in the way primaries are usually run in other countries. In fact on many occasions the fight for the party ticket ends up being tougher and more bruising than the presidential elections proper. That's politics and that's democracy.
However the concern of Musyoka and his handlers is that in a country which is still very new to presidential elections, let alone presidential primaries within a party, some comments could mislead the masses into believing that a candidate has already been agreed upon. Indeed even Raila handlers believe that the early Steadmann polls put Kalonzo ahead of their candidate and even gave him a strong showing in Nyanza because most believed that Raila would support Kalonzo to be the ODM presidential candidate.
Whatever it is that Kalonzo had in mind while making his comments this morning, it is bound to cause lots of controversy in the coming days and lots of barbs are expected to fly between the two camps as a result of his remarks.
I find it hypocritical and usually fight the urge to throw up whenever these two gentlemen give their plastic smiles and hold hands in front of press cameras when we all know that both are eyeing each other's jugular. Most of all Kenyans would wish for an honest president and not a pretender.
So Hon Kalonzo and Hon Raila please stop pretending. You are abusing our intelligence. Those tensions behind closed doors, which we all sense when the two of you are together, should now be made public. We want to know the issues (or are they too personal?) we want to know just how bad things are between the two of you. We are tired of these plastic smiles. By the way both of you do not smile with your eyes—a clear sign of a forced smile portraying insincerity. The good thing about President Kibaki is that he rarely attempts to smile in the first place, I dare say that in this case he is the most sincere of you three. At least we know him and his weaknesses. Better the devil we know than the angels we have never really gotten to know and who love to give us false plastic smiles.
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Better the devil we know than the angels we have never really gotten to know
ReplyDeleteThen why in the hell didn't we support or still encourage moi to keep on ruling or still go with the likes of Saitoti rather than the sloth?
Yeah, i think they should stop taking us for a ride. Whether they like each other or not is of no importance. Let's lookk at the point Kalonzo raised and which apparently was raised by messrs Ruto and Uhuru.
ReplyDeleteThe ODM secretariat as presently constituted is not different from the leadership of the two ruling parties" Narc and NPK. That secretariat is composed of friends, girlfriends and relatives of some presidential candidates. That is why u will hear the likes of Agwambo calling themselves run away favourites coz they know 'mummy and daddy' are the ones holding the key.
I dont give much of a damn who wins the primaries but for a party that calls itself a democratic movement, the primaries must not only be democratic but they must be seen to be so. If those primaries were today being overseen by that secretariat which doubles as the election board then raila Odinga will 'win' regardless of how mabny supporters he can pull to his side. That is why i was laughing aloud the other day when i saw his tribal cacoon holding a press conference to deny the LDP members to sit in the board.
Holding skewed nominations will not only lead to a mass walk out it also has the potential of sidelining the Raila Odinga led camp forcing their ejection.
Let us not forget ODM is old kanu and each of the kingpins has rigged kanu elections at one time or another. Are u telling these guys to be democratic? Talking of teaching an old dog new tricks
Whereas it quite in order for Kalonzo to invoke the bible when collecting his nomination papers, it is dishonest for him to perpetually "find fault" with whatever ODM agrees upon in meetings which he was himself party to. Why did he not address his complaints at the right forum (ODM committee meetings) which have been numerous in the last few weeks? Why demand an election board at a press conference, yet he has been an ODM insider all this time and the party has channels & secretariat available? And to whom is he addressing these demands if not ODM enemies?
ReplyDeleteI think that Kalonzo's utterances are aimed at attracting public sympathy after realising that Raila is way ahead. If not, he must be in someone's payrol to ensure ODM unity does not materialise.
There was an agreement that all ODM presidential candidates must campaign on the ground for the ODM candidate at the Magarini by-elections due on monday. So far, I have only seen Balala and Raila on the ground. Its a replay of what happened in Nakuru, Moyale and Kisauni, where the egotistical luminaries failed to mount any serious campaigns resulting to ODM (Kanu/LDP)candidates "loosing" those seats!
Just who among the so called luminaries is really committed to the ODM?
K@lonzo and Rut0 have been going around the country campaigning and claiming that they are not children of privilige unlike R@ila, Uhuru and Mud@vadi and understand the plight of poor Kenyans who are the majority. How is this different from Tinga stating that the contest is between him and Kib@ki after all K@lonzo claimed in Meru that God will decide between him and Kib@ki .
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time, Oginga Odinga thought that he was president of Kenya in 1992.
ReplyDeleteWhen Kenneth Stanley Njindo Matiba arrived to a triumphant welcome in Nairobi, things changed and as it were to be, Kenneth Matiba was the undeclared president of Kenya with Odinga finishing fourth.
Is history repaeting itself? Why all these chest-thumping after Raila made his vision launch. By saying that the battle is between him and Kibaki, it shows the contempt he has for the others in the presidential primaries.
In a democratic contest, there should not be the razzmattazz that has occassioned the week after Raila launched his vision.
Mark this day in your diaries. Raila will lose to Kibaki.
Over to you all!!
It is Kanu vs the opposition.
ReplyDeleteRaila was the last SG for Kanu in 2002, Uhuru Kenyatta, Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi et all. Kibaki shinda hawa wote. You have my vote.
Bring on the elections. To hell with sons, of so and so and wives and relatives.
Is Raila democratic? Was he not the same person who had James Orengo detained on his way to his Ugenya constituancy when he was cooperating with Kanu? Who is fighting Raphael Tuju? Who stopped Pref Nyongo from being elected by telling the electorate not to vote for him. At what expense, the Luo community. It is true Raila has been travelling the whole world collecting money using his campaign tool, the Luo tribe.
Raila is not a democrat. If he loses the primaries, the Luo tribe will march out in protest to another party. This time, it might be LUO POLITICAL PARTY. WAit and see. Luo losers, Raila loser, no development.
Guys i have had one of the busiest fortnights in my entire life. that is why i have been MIA. I am back though and i hope i have not lost much. I thought u guys would be discussing raila's vision and kalonzo's tax proposals. how wrong!
ReplyDeleteLet's eat what is on the table. Mr. Phil i have to tell u that ur argument is not only outrageous but is utterly wanting. why are u evading the whole issue and choose to concentrate so much on the forum the issue was raised? Of course u r entitled to ur own way of seeing things but dont u think if u r trully committed to ODM, then u have a duty to demand an impartial election body? Do u deep down in ur heart feel that election body as presently constituted is capable of successfully overseeing the elections? It is time people got a little bit honest with themselves. That secretariat is not only lacking a credible leader, its composition reads something like who is who in Mr. Odinga's heart.
If we are any different from old kanu and today's Narc K then we should hold democratic nominations. No candidate is so stupid as to participate in a nomination process that is stage managed with the intention of just endorsing one particular candidate. The last time i checked, the statutes were talking about an election and not a selection.
About Kalonzo's forum, if that is really an issue, we all know that the leaders of the LDP were requested to submit names of people to sit in the election board. What did we see when that happened, the forces afraid of democracy instructed their side kicks to hold a press conference and disown the list. I am once again calling for honesty, can anyone tell me what the best way to select LDP's representatives is. In my opinion Musila and company forwarded the names of all presidential candidates(Even though some of them are just there to serve as others' stooges), the chairman of the party and the secretary general. The only outsider was Joe Khamisi. The crying babies would make more sense if they called for the removal of Khamisi.
People forget so fast. Last year we were supposed to have LDP elections. After one camp realised how difficult it was to achieve their goals through democratic party elections, they frustrated the elections and some of them even threatened to quit the party. Of course we've all had different professors but i am sure the definition of democracy is not subject to which school u attended or who taught u. It is about allowing fair competition and accepting the results of a fair contest.
If we cannot agree on a small matter as the composition of an election board then something is grossly wrong with one of us or both of us. we cant both be right.
If the pro democracy and anti democracy camps (U have a right of calling the camp u support anything u like, just take ur pick) then the ideal composition should be: uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, David Musila, JJ Kamotho, Dr. Ojiambo,and Peter Kubebea. These are the leaders of the constituent parties of ODM. Uhuru, Ruto and Dr. Ojiambo can elect to replace themselves with individuals of their choice coz it makes no sense to officiate a game in which u r a player.
Another sound alternative is to dissolve odm kenya and then people go ahead and form their own briefcase parties.ODM is nobody's party. It is a party belonging to the majority of kenyans and anybody who thinks otherwise is cheating no one but himself and his loyalists. The mebers of any tribal party will have no problem with the composition of the election board. If anybody is intereted in that route, they can consult Mrs. ngilu. no one does it better that her.