Kenya Yes team hits out on Moi

Written By:Caro Gakii/Sylvester Ruto , Posted: Wed, Jul 21, 2010


The Yes Camp has hit out on retired president Daniel Moi saying that he has no moral authority to rubbish the proposed constitution since he was the stumbling block to reforms during his regime.

The Yes Secretariat Co-conveners Anyang' Nyong'o and Kiraitu Murungi said Moi and other opposed to the document are doing so to protect their interest.

"Right from the start of this campaign, the No leadership has relied on Kanu-era tricks. President Moi and Hon William Ruto, during their very long rule, fought against a new constitution and continue to do so now. The reason is simple - they are for the current status quo, in which their vast and illicit financial interests are well protected."

"The No leadership is in fact the embodiment of Kenya's dark past that the new constitution was designed to break from. There is no better evidence of where the No camp wants to lead the country than the fact that their key spokesman is a man from the past. President Moi ruled this country so ruinously that he should be the last one to advice Kenyans on the referendum. Moi's recent outbursts on land grabbing must be the joke of the century!"

Addressing a press conference in Nairobi Wednesday, the two called on Kenyans not to be misled by the No camp adding that the proposed constitution will transform the lives of Kenyans.

"We want to emphasize that this is not merely a "good" constitution but one which will rapidly transform the way we live. Kenyans will benefit materially in terms of better health care, jobs, education, etc."

They further accused the William Rutto led team of trying to divert Kenyans attention by alleging that the United States of America was funding the Yes campaigns.

Meanwhile, legislators in the No camp are crying foul over what they call government's influence on the public ahead of the August 4th referendum.

The legislators complained that the move to direct all Senior Civil servants to mobilize grass root support for the proposed new constitution is unfair competition.

They also accused the Committee of Experts of siding with the Yes team instead of being neutral while educating the public on what is contained in the draft document.

Elsewhere, the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) Multi-Sectoral National Yes Campaign team hopes for carrying the day in the August 4th referendum have been fostered following last week's opinion poll by Strategic Research that placed YES at 62 per cent against 20 per cent for the NO vote.

Professor Larry Gumbe, CMD chair said the 18 per cent that account for the undecided voters are likely to join the YES bandwagon following the growing trend of cross-over to the Yes campaign by a number of politicians and members of the clergy.

He however took issue with former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile and KANU Vice chairman Gideon Moi who are both on record alleging that the Government plans to rig the referendum.

The chairman criticized these allegations saying the YES team had no reason to rig as opinion polls had clearly shown who will emerge victorious. "We are winners, why should we rig!" he said.

Gumbe termed these utterances as alarming and inflammatory and asked that the leaders be subjected to sanctions by both the police and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.

He further called on the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) to ensure that polling agents and other referendum officers are well vetted and the tallying system fine-tuned to avoid mistakes witnessed in the last General Election.

The group is also disappointed with the authorities' inaction to arrest and charge war mongers and inciters resulting to some communities fleeing some areas for fear of violence after the referendum as seen in some parts of Rift Valley and Nyanza.

CMD congratulated the media fraternity for ensuring fair play and objectivity in their coverage of both the YES and NO camps despite facing endless threats in their work.