Raila, Kalonzo coalition pledge to change Kenya

Orie Rogo Manduli and other leaders join PM Raila, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Trade minister Moses Wetangula in a jig during the Wiper Democratic Movement National Delegates Convention at Kasarani on Monday. The delegates endorsed Kalonzo to fly the Wiper flag. [PHOTOS: GOVEDI ASUTSA and TABITHA OTWORI/STANDARD]

By Peter Opiyo

NAIROBI; KENYA: The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) top three leaders on Monday gave a promise to Kenyans; they deserve their trust and have the will and resolve to change their country.

This change, they promised, would manifest itself in governance, economic and political management, and full implementation of the Constitution.

It was at the endorsement of Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka for presidential race by his Wiper Democratic Movement that, alongside Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Trade minister Moses Wetang’ula, they renewed the vow they made last Tuesday when they signed coalition pact. It was a big day as the Wiper party national delegates formally sanctioned the union Kalonzo struck with Raila’s ODM and Wetangula’s Ford Kenya.

The event at Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani — where last Friday Raila got a similar clearance by his party delegates at reunion — captured national attention as it marked a progression of Raila’s and Kalonzo’s pact where sources from both sides revealed the PM will be the candidate and VP the running mate.

However, Monday Kalonzo told the delegates he is going to battle for the coalition’s ticket with Raila.

Though the delegates endorsed Kalonzo to fly the Wiper flag, the three leaders were mandated to decide whom among them would be Cord’s flag-bearer, in a week’s time.

Wiper chairman David Musila said such an agreement must be reached soon. “The three will now agree and, within a week, tell us who would be the presidential candidate.”

Friday’s and Monday’s are the first formal party meetings both Wiper and ODM, who had hitherto been fierce rivals since 2007 fall out, attended as comrades in the Kibaki succession race.

From the word go, the coalition packaged itself as an alternative to the Jubilee coalition whose key pillars are Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto, who are facing international crimes charges at The Hague. The alliance also has Sabatia MP Musalia Mudavadi as a key partner.

Leaders with Integrity

Mudavadi, the UDF leader, fights out for the Jubilee coalition presidential ticket on Tuesday December 18, with Uhuru, and probably Water minister Charity Ngilu, who returned to the fold Monday after last week’s flight to Cord.

Cord presented itself as a team of credible leaders, a coalition of people of good integrity and public standing, and a group innocent of the historical injustices and notoriety of stolen public assets Kenyans are grappling with. The coalition leaders declared their priority was the creation of wealth and ensuring it was shared equally among al ethnic communities. The coalition is also rooting for the full implementation of the Constitution ratified by Kenyans in August 2010.

Raila and Kalonzo were united in declaring they would ensure lives of Kenyans improve through wealth creation. “In the Bible, Joshua shared the resources in Canaan to all the 12 tribes of Israel and when we cross to Canaan next year, we will share this cake equitably among the 42 tribes,” the PM promised Monday.

He criticised the Jubilee alliance, associating it with looting of public property and said the name Jubilee, which the rival alliance has adopted, is biblically symbolic and should refer not so much to Kenya’s 50 years of independence, but the celebrations marking the end of half-century in which Kenyans have lived in bondage.

To mark this period, the Jubilee leadership, Raila said, should be ready to be freed and to return stolen public wealth.

“In the Bible, Jubilee means 50 years and during this time, prisoners and thieves were freed while those who have stolen were asked to return, so we are asking our colleagues in the so-called Jubilee alliance are you ready to return property you have stolen?” asked Raila.

Kalonzo said his presidency under Cord would empower the newly-created counties by identifying economic opportunities to create wealth for the devolved units.

Leadership of pretence

Kalonzo packaged himself as a man from a poverty-ravaged background who only succeeded through education, saying he is not new to the difficulties Kenyans face as they struggle to make ends meet.

“I am running to confront these challenges. I don’t need a research study to know issues affecting Kenyans,” said the VP. “For a long time resource distribution has been skewed in favour of the regions that powerful Government officials come from and this has been part of the perennial conflicts that normally escalate during elections.”

Wetangula said Cord would not entertain the politics of hatred and tribalism. He described the Cord alliance, that includes 14 political parties, as a dream team that would carry the aspirations of all Kenyans.

Raila took the delegates through the journey to a new Constitutional order. He outlined how President Kibaki in 2005, when they opposed a mutilated draft of what would have been the new constitution sacked him, together with Kalonzo.

A new order, which was consultative and approved by Kenyans, he said, later came in 2010 and the majority of Kenyans supported it but accused the Jubilee alliance of opposing it. “When we said ‘No’ to that Constitution in 2005, we were sacked but we carried the day, we then supported the new order which came to pass, but you know which people opposed it,” he said referring to members of the Jubilee alliance.

Wetangula also took a swipe at the alliance, saying the members do not have the resolve to implement the charter. “Those who were procrastinating on the Constitution want to pretend that they can implement the same Constitution,” he said.

Kalonzo emphasised the March 4 elections would be crucial because it would be based on who can effectively implement the Constitution. “We must fully implement the Constitution and this is why this election is the most pivotal in our life.”

A 20-minute documentary traced Kalonzo’s background, from a humble village boy in the poverty-ravaged Tseikuru village to a successful man, courtesy of edu cation, hobnobbing with diplomats across the globe, playing important roles in peace-building in conflict-prone Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.