Check aspirants past records, Kenneth tells voters

By MICHAEL CHEPKWONY

Kenya National Congress presidential hopeful Peter Kenneth has urged voters to elect the president based on past track record.

Speaking at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Kapsabet, Kenneth said all presidential candidates have served in public offices and should, therefore, be judged on what they delivered.

Kenneth, who was accompanied by POA party presidential hopeful Raphael Tuju, criticised Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Deputy Prime Ministers Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi.

He said the leaders are claiming they can deliver yet their performances are not impressive.

He said: “The PM and his two deputies had opportunities of delivering quality services to Kenyans during their tenures. You need to ask yourselves what they did.”

The KNC leader said that unless status quo was destabilised through ‘informed and right voting’, poverty and other evils that are ravaging the nation would still stay in place.

Kenneth condemned “euphoric, ethnic and emotion-charged” voting patterns in Kenya, saying they are responsible for lack of progress in the country.

“If you get carried away by euphoria to vote for a candidate based on his popularity rather than his ability to work for you, we shall remain with problems,” he said.

Kenneth pledged that if elected as president, he would ensure that every county has a well-facilitated hospital, a national polytechnic and water dams among other projects to boost economy.

Tuju said Kenneth and him were brought up in humble backgrounds and are in better position to serve Kenyans because they understand problems associated with poverty.

He said: “We were both in Starehe Boys’ High School and our fees were sourced from bursaries because our families could not afford.”

Tuju called on Kenyans to stop excitement over talk on who was likely to be the leading presidential candidate, but instead use their vote to elect credible leaders.

“It is not about me and Kenneth. It is about you as Kenyans to vote wisely. You have to think about your future and that of your children by making informed choices,” he said.

He said that if other presidential hopefuls do not have impressive track records, especially at their constituencies, there was no point of voting them.

He added: “How will someone who has been unable to make any improvement in his constituency be able to manage the entire country?”

At the same time, Tuju called on the citizens to shun tribal politics adding that Kenyans should stop voting along ethnic lines.

The two were welcomed by Kapsabet Mayor Michael Rono, Kapsabet ward Councillor John Cheruiyot and other civic leaders and party officials.