Politics
I’ll Campaign For My Preferred Presidential Candidate – Uhuru Kenyatta
President Uhuru Kenyatta has said he will soon hit the road to campaign for a presidential candidate he believes has what it takes to lead the country ahead of the August 9 General Election.
Speaking during the launch of the Annual Universal Healthcare Conference in Mombasa on Monday, President Kenyatta said he will move across the country to campaign for his preferred candidate.
“I don’t have a project, but I will also vote for a candidate and tell Kenyans my choice, those who want to listen will listen,” he said.
The Head of State said Jubilee Party will unite with like-minded parties to form a government that will unite the country and complete its development projects after the August 9 polls.
“We will team up with the likes of Governor [Hassan] Joho to form a government that will bring on board all Kenyans and work for you,” he said.
The President hailed the 2018 ‘Handshake’ between him and ODM leader Raila Odinga for creating a conducive environment for his administration to deliver on his promises to Kenyans.
“Were it not for the unity deal we struck with leaders across the political divided in 2018, we could have achieved very little in terms of development.”
He said he differed with his deputy William Ruto after he started early campaigns despite his calls for work first, politics later.
“I told them to help me develop the country first then do politics later, but they bolted out, now politics is here and we are ready to play it,” he said.
He downplayed the Tanga Tanga-allied group’s popularity, saying the presidential race is a marathon, not a sprint.
“They started earlier when we were serving Kenyans, now we want to join them because elections are here with us, they will realise it is a marathon.”
President Kenyatta dismissed those saying Jubilee Party is dead, saying the party was busy working for Kenyans and now is ready to join politics.
“They run around saying the president’s party is dead, we were working now we will go to the people and tell them what we have been doing,” he said.
Uhuru said his critics insult him daily because they know he is not a pushover, saying he will not respond to insults because he is doing his work.
“If they insult you a lot, know you are a political rock otherwise if you were lightweight they will not be talking about you.”
He said the government will soon set up a special economic zone in Mombasa and open the multibillion-shilling Dongo Kundu bypass to create jobs and open up the Coast region.
“We will establish a special economic zone here funded by the Government of Japan, and we need roads to make these places accessible. We will soon open the Dongo Kundu bypass,” he said.
Deputy President William Ruto has vowed to that his government if given the mandate to lead the country in the August 9 polls will deal with hands-on with ‘State capture.’
According to the Presidential candidate, state policies are being used to facilitate the theft of public funds as corruption had been absorbed into government.
DP William Ruto made these calims while speaking to the Reuters in an interview.
“We have no intention of prosecuting President Uhuru Kenyatta, but we have every intention of dealing with State capture. It cannot be business as usual,” the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate said.
DP Ruto’s running mate, Rigathi Gachagua also alluded to said State capture, saying those involved will be dealt with should Kenya Kwanza form the next government.
“We will not go after individuals. We will go after all those in state capture and conflict of interest,” Gachagua said in a joint media broadcast.
The Mathira MP vaguely explained that it was “people in power who have used or are using their offices to use up public resources to their advantage,” when asked who or what State capture was.
The DP has also revealed plans of bringing to end the Kenya’s national debt, which currently stands at Sh9 trillion, in an exclusive interview with international media.
He said the country has the capacity to handle the debt situation, and that they as Kenya Kwanza have mapped out plans of how to go about it, should they win.
“We will put the brakes on more borrowing. It may not come to zero but we will begin the journey to slow down on more borrowing,” the DP said.
Campaigns hit fever pitch and candidates scramble for airtime to sell their agendas with just eighteen (18) days left as Kenya will soon be headed to the General Election.
Sonko has increased the intense in the race for Mombasa county which already has aspirants from the UDA and ODM parties.
Sonko has finally been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to contest for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat.
On Thursday, July 14 2022, Sonko in the accompany of his supporters was given the green light.
The former Nairobi governor was invited by the IEBC to submit his letter for clearance as per a letter addressed to him earlier.
“The venue will be the IEBC Mombasa County offices and you are expected to submit your papers on July 14, 2022 between 2pm and 4pm,” Swalha Ibrahim the returning officer said.
The letter to Sonko came after a high court ruled that the politician doesn’t be disqualified from vying for governor noting that the governor was eligible to run for office. The commission said it could not head to the courts to appeal the decision as time could not allow.
Addressing the media after the clearance, Sonko said his candidature seeks to solve the problems of the people in the Coastal city and that he was bringing a new awakening in the city.
Sonko said he was not worried about the short time time line he has to undertake the campaigns in the large city noting that he was drawing a campaign schedule to begin immediately.
“We must campaign, we have few days but we will utilize them properly. We can do two days per constituency or a day per constituency,” Sonko noted.
Funding Partnerships and Grants Manager at Northern Rangelands Trust
Legal Counsel at Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF)
