Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first president, lost the 2002 presidential election to current President Mwai Kibaki. Now he has announced he’s seeking the nomination as presidential candidate for the opposition ODM-Kenya coalition in this year’s general election. Kenyatta explained why he should get the nomination. .
“First and foremost, you know I have been an active member of ODM-Kenya and the political party KANU, and as such, I have decided to throw my hat in the ring alongside my colleagues in seeking the ticket for presidency comes the elections of 2007 December,” he said.
Kenyatta is among several candidates vying to be nominated as the presidential candidate for the ODM-Kenya. He said it is all part of the democratic process.
“This is actually the first time that Kenya is going to be holding primaries for political nominations, but this is not something strange to political parties in the world. So, yes indeed it is something new for Kenya. I’m not saying it is going to be easy. But ultimately I believe it’s the right step toward entrenching democratic principles in our part of the world,” he said.
Kenyatta, who contested for the presidency in 2002 against current President Mwai Kibaki, said it is wrong for people to say that he should not get the nomination this time because he failed to win in 2002.
“I believe that what actually happened in 2002 was not so much a rejection of Uhuru Kenyatta, but a rejection at that time of the KANU government and the incumbent president because many believed that a vote for KANU or a vote for Uhuru would have meant a continuation of the KANU rule. I believe this time, over the last few years, I have had the chance to make my own stance as a candidate to create and to get people to understand that indeed I am independent of the past, and consequently I believe that this time Kenyans will be able to judge Uhuru Kenyatta for he is and not what they thought he was,” he said.
Kenyatta, whose committee led the parliamentary investigation into the Anglo Leasing scandal, said he was disappointed the current government cleared some of those implicated in the report. He said if he is elected president he would make the fight against corruption a priority.
“Kenya loses far too much of its revenue, valuable revenue that could go into much required and needed social programs in our country, and consequently you cannot eliminate the monster of corruption unless you actually begin to accept that as a government, no matter how higher it goes, those individuals action must be taken even if they are your political friends because it is only by taking action against those in the higher level that you will begin to get people to accept that corruption is a thing of the past,” Kenyatta said.
Kenyatta said he is confident that if he is chosen as the standard bearer of ODM-Kenya he would win over incumbent President Mwai Kibaki.
“Ultimately like I said, ODM-Kenya is the reflection of the face of Kenya, and it has within the aspirations of the majority of young Kenyans who want to see a change in personality and a complete change in direction of the system of governance that has ruled Kenya for the last forty ought years,” he said.
