Friday, January 19, 2007

Count Down Elections 2007: What Next For Uhuru Kenyatta?

Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta seems to be in a political dilemma as he seems to have been caught between a rock and a hard place as he contemplates his political future at ODM-Kenya.

It is rather obvious that he can not make it as the movements presidential candidate as the race there is largely between Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga with the latter heavily tipped to win the day.

On the other hand Uhuru's party is being wrestled from him by Kerio South MP Nicholas Biwott as a court case is still in progress to determine who are the bonafide officials of Kanu.

This puts Uhuru in a compromising position as he may find easily find himself with no party to contest the presidency with and may end up being offered a smaller position in the ODM party which he may find difficult to be content with considering that he vied for the presidency in 2002.

A witty politician who learns fast and is also able to make compromises for the common good of Kenyans, Uhuru cannot be written off so fast considering that he is probably the richest presidential aspirant and capable of self funding a presidential campaign.

In a country where money counts for much, Uhuru could find it difficult to convince those at ODM that he is the best bet for president but again he could go solo, form his own political outfit and finance his presidential campaign in his second bid for the top seat. This kind of move is ill adviced.

However sources close to Uhuru say that he is not very determined to contest the presidency this time round but wants to be part of the winning team that will wrestle power from president Kibaki in the polls expected to be held in December. He will then take the next 5 years to repackage himself for a successful bid for the presidency in 2012.

Uhuru has shown a lot of maturity and consistency ever since he lost his presidential bid in 2002 but the fact that he has fallen out with Moi for joining ODM has cost him plenty of Kanu supporters from Moi's Kalenjin community and the expansive Rift Valley which the retired president knows like the back of his hand. But again he has won many more from other parts of the country.

Kenyatta's youthfulness is also on his side considering that majority of the voters are youths who have been disillusioned by the Kibaki administration which seems to consider give priority to those above 70 years for plum jobs in the civil service and parastatals, something that has annoyed many Kenyan voters.

All said and done, Uhuru could make a formidable presidential candidate this time round unlike in 2002 when he was considered Moi's "baby". Writing him off would therefore be a big mistake.

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General Elections 2007: Who Will Be Raila Odinga's Running Mate? Surprise, Surprise

In view of the strategy that Narc Kenya are bound to use against Raila Odinga, if he stands for president, the choice of his vice presidential running mate, will be critical.

It is the opinion of this writer that Raila Odinga is unstoppable and will win the ODM-Kenya nomination without breaking into a sweat. The real challenge he will face will however be beating the incumbent, President Mwai Kibaki. Narc-Kenya are widely expected to fan anti-Luo tribal sentiments promoted by the Kenyatta administation in the 60s and 70s.

Interestingly most analysts agree that only one candidate is best suited to serve Agwambo's political interests well and give him a higher chance of winning the presidency. And assuming that this particular person accepts to be his running mate, then they will be in a position to revive their own political career, which now seems to be in dire straits. That man's name is of course Uhuru Kenyatta.

Uhuru Kenyatta has been official leader of the opposition but is only beginning to cut his teeth as his own man after being under the shadow of retired President Moi for too long. However he has shown great promise and great potential.

There are those who believe that Uhuru will have minimal influence over the Kikuyu vote as a vice presidential running mate of Raila, a Luo. Still, there is no doubt that it is the best option open to Raila at the moment, more so because the number of youth voters across tribal lines in the country who will be quick to identify with Uhuru is huge.

In the past Uhuru and Agwambo have always worked very well together, as was evidenced during the New Constitution referendum in November 2005. Can they work together to get President Kibaki out of State House?

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Ugandan self-proclaimed Prophetess Dies In Kenya

It was reported in the local press yesterday that the self-proclaimed Ugandan prophetess, Alice Lakwena died at a refugee camp in Northern Kenya after battling illness for a week and refusing conventional medical attention opting instead to treat herself with traditional medicine.

She will be remembered for waging a guerilla war in Uganda from 1986-87 where she convinced her followers to sprinkle some form of holy water she had in her possession that could allegedly stop bullets from inflicting injury on ones body.

Her gullible supporters believed her and died in their thousands as they confronted heavily armed government troops. Her resistance did not last long and she soon fled to Kenya to evade capture.

Having been married twice and divorced due to her inability to have children, Lakwena settled for a lonely life at the refugee camp and is said to have been sick for about a week prior to succumbing to a yet to be established ailment.

Born in 1956 in Uganda, Lakwena lived a generally quiet life before the mid eighties when she suddenly stopped talking and on recovering her speech, she claimed a spirit was inside her, which had instructed her to wage war against the government that she accused of being evil and unpopular.

Many considered her to be an insane zealot out to gain popularity and ascend to power by cheating gullible Ugandans that she was the anointed one and God had plans for her to rule the country and restore religious beliefs among the people.

Her supporters were mainly northern Ugandans who are known to be against any government where the president comes from the south. In this case, a southerner, Yoweri Museveni was president and it was easy to convince her northern kinsmen to take up arms against the government.

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