Don't take us back to 2008, Uhuru tells political rivals

President Uhuru Kenyatta when he addressed Nairobians after opening the Mama Margaret Kenyatta Children Hospital in Nairobi’s Korogocho informal settlement. [PSCU]

President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged politicians to be careful of their statements during the campaign to avoid plunging the country into chaos.

Speaking during the burial of Loise Njeri Mbugua in Kiambu County, the president said some politicians were paving the road of political violence by making inciting remarks and insulting other leaders.

He said the memory of 2007/8 post-election violence was still raw and that now, as Kenya heads to an election on August 9 where he is constitutionally mandated to step down after serving two terms, politicians should be careful with their utterances.

“Let us politick in a manner that ensures we will have a country after the election. We have seen what happens when politicians have made statements that have led to bloodshed. We do not want to go back there,” said Uhuru.

Uhuru was accompanied by other leaders, including Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka to Karinde for the burial of State House Comptroller Kinuthia Mbugua's mother who died on March 17. She was aged 100.

He said politics would come and go and even as politicians campaign, they should do so peacefully and respectfully.

Uhuru said while democracy was everyone’s right, that right did not extend to insulting, fighting or killing each other.

The presidential contest has shaped up as one between Deputy William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga, whom the retiring president is supporting.

“Sell your agenda, the voters will think and decide who to vote for. But ask for votes peacefully and respectfully, it is God who gives leadership, it is not your coercion or insults,” said Uhuru.