Mike Ratemo, Sandra Wekesa and Irene Githinji
President Uhuru Kenyatta has taken a swipe at the Opposition for blaming the government on skyrocketing unga prices. He tore into Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga and Opposition luminaries for being deceitful and propagating politics of slander and propaganda for cheap political mileage.
The president also dismissed them for blinding Kenyans on the unga issue, insisting the recent high maize flour prices had been exacerbated by biting drought. "Raila and his cronies are shouting from the sidelines and pointing accusing fingers yet some of the problems the country is going through were committed while he was in office,” he said.
"In 2011 while you were in office, as the Prime Minister, maize flour hit an unprecedented Sh140 high, yet when Kenyans protested you crushed the revolt with high handedness, he added in direct reference to the Nasa flag bearer.
He accused the Opposition of blatant lies and always shifting goal posts when the government had managed to fix crisis the country is facing. Uhuru disclosed the government has been working hard in the last five months to bring down unga prices.
“The Sh90 unga is retailing currently is unprecedented for the past 10 years. Yet the Opposition has shifted their emphasis on flour prices to accuse the government of plundering government resources,” he said. Labour Party leader Ababu Namwamba echoed the President’s sentiments saying Kenyans should be wary of leaders propagating falsehoods to the electorate.
He said the President has liberated a fractious country he inherited in just four years. “Uhuru has stabilised the economy and initiated mega projects such as the SGR yet some of his biggest detractors have been in previous regimes sitting pretty as the country went down the drain” said Ababu.
He said Labour Party has endorsed the President for the August 8 poll and the outfit is ready to work with Jubilee in the next government. “Our party will enlighten Kenyans on Uhuru’s achievements since some people are dwelling on negative issues of his regime while turning a blind eye on his accomplishments.
Some have not chosen to remember but Labour Party has chosen to remember,” Ababu added. Namwamba and Uhuru spoke at KICC, Nairobi during a Labour Party convention issuing certificates to aspirants.
Earlier, Uhuru termed intimidation of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Judiciary by the Opposition as “cowardly and dictatorship of the highest order”.
He called for respect of institutions and individuals in the build up to General Electionn saying democracy is about giving Kenyans space to make their choice freely but not to intimidate the IEBC and Judiciary.
“Intimidation is a factor of dictatorship and cowardice. Kenyans should be given space to choose the leaders they want without threats,” he said. The President urged Kenyans to embrace peace as the elections approach saying it is the way to go to build the nation.
He made the remarks on Friday after his presidential bid received an endorsement from Democratic Party (DP) in its National Delegates Conference (NDC) in Nairobi.
DP becomes the sixth political party to endorse Uhuru's candidature for the August election. Other than Jubilee, his main sponsoring party, the Head of State has also received support from Maendeleo Chap Chap, Kanu, Narc Kenya, Frontier Alliance Party and Economic Freedom Party.
DP leader, Joseph Munyao said they were supporting the President's re-election bid because of his development track record. “We have seen the performance of President Uhuru and his administration and we are pleased with his achievements,” he said.
The post Unga politics will not win you election, Uhuru tell Nasa appeared first on Mediamax Network Limited.