By PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, January 4 2013 at 20:00
Posted Friday, January 4 2013 at 20:00
IN SUMMARY
- UDF presidential aspirant teams up with Wamalwa and Kanu’s Gideon to form Amani coalition; pledges jobs and security if elected
Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi on Friday teamed up with New Ford Kenya party leader Eugene Wamalwa to form a new coalition on whose ticket the Sabatia MP will contest the presidency.
The two parties also got the support of Kanu delegates led by chairman Gideon Moi to form the Amani Coalition, which they said would win the presidency in the March 4 General Election.
Hundreds of delegates from the three parties gave a ringing endorsement to the former Local Government minister to use the coalition to stop frontrunners Raila Odinga (Cord) and Uhuru Kenyatta (Jubilee) from succeeding President Kibaki.
Mr Wamalwa who had hopped from one alliance to another in the run-up to Friday, withdrew his presidential ambitions and promised to support Mr Mudavadi.
Addressing the delegates conference at the Bomas of Kenya, Mr Mudavadi promised Kenyans a future devoid of tribalism, insecurity and political violence if elected the next president.
In his acceptance speech after being endorsed to vie for presidency on the Amani Coalition ticket, Mr Mudavadi said his government would build on the economic gains achieved by President Mwai Kibaki’s government in the last 10 years.
“I stand before you this afternoon to seek an opportunity to lead our great country in unlocking the great potential that exists in our middle,” he said.
“…a chance to rid out the challenges that confront us today, and a chance to heal the wounds of strife, confrontation and reckless politics that has brought our great nation close to the brink in the recent past.”
Mr Mudavadi noted that Mr Wamalwa’s sacrifice had enabled the Amani coalition to emerge strongly as the alternative force for a peaceful Kenya.
“I will offer sober, realistic and pragmatic leadership,” Mr Mudavadi said.
“I have the will and determination to create a collective and consultative government that represents all Kenyans,” he said.
The two leaders, alongside Mr Moi, promised their opponents in Cord and the Jubilee Coalition a run for their money in the next General Election.
“To those who have said that this election is going to be a two horse race, I want to tell them that they are dead wrong,” Mr Wamalwa said.
“This election will not be a choice of two horses or of reformers and non-reformers, it will be about transformers,” he added.
Mr Moi promised to back Mr Mudavadi’s candidature both financially and materially saying that only the UDF leader could unite the nation.
“In 2002, you sacrificed your presidential bid for Uhuru Kenyatta; in 2007, you sacrificed for Raila Odinga, in 2013, your time has come and we will support you,” he said.
Greed for power
Speakers who included Kanu secretary-general Nick Salat, MPs Boni Khalwale and Ndiritu Mureithi hailed Mr Mudavadi’s nomination describing him as a selfless leader.
“In a county full of corrupt and selfish politicians, only a Mudavadi presidency will address the inequalities and the marginalisation in parts of Kenya,” said an aspirant for Mandera senatorial seat, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim Haji.
“Those of us in marginalised areas are fully behind his candidature,” he added.
Mr Mudavadi packaged himself as the safe hands in a presidential race dominated by “political opportunists, tribal kings and warmongers”.
“Greed for power at any price has set our people against each other,” he said.
“The politics of insults and chest-thumping has brought us low… Internally displaced people, the enduring evidence of our past misadventure, remain stranded as refugees in the land of their fathers.”
He asked Kenyans to think seriously about which presidential candidate represents the voice and face of healing and national reconciliation.
He stated that his government would strive to implement the Constitution while promoting the rule of law and due process.
It will also address security challenges by expanding the police force, improving the quality of training and support facilities.
He also promised to confront the ravages of poverty, hunger, disease and unemployment if elected president.
“The national shame that is thousands of unemployed youth; mothers struggling with water pots for miles in search of water; parents unable to afford school fees; and the burden of corrupt practices will not be allowed to continue,” he said.
He also pledged to put creation of new high-value jobs for youth at the top of his government’s economic agenda.
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