Joseph Kanyi | Nation Gichugu MP Martha Karua acknowledges greetings from Nyeri residents along Kimathi streets in Nyeri after a Narc Kenya delegates meeting at Nyamachaki PCEA hall on Saturday.
By JOHN NJAGI jnjagi@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Saturday, January 8 2011 at 21:00
In Summary
- Gichugu MP says she regrets the death of the Narc dream and aims barbs at ODM for defending members
Gichugu MP Martha Karua Saturday declared she would make the fight against corruption her top agenda should she be elected Kenya’s next president.
Ms Karua, also the Narc Kenya party leader, to a delegates meeting in Nyeri she regretted the death of the Narc dream, which had put corruption fight on top of its agenda but faltered with those ‘supposed to fight corruption’ becoming corrupt.
“Kenyans welcomed change at that time, but more change is required at the institutional and individual level,” she said.
Ms Karua gave the clearest indication that she would give a serious shot at the presidency by asking delegates at the party meeting in Nyeri County to help popularise her bid at the grassroots.
Narc Kenya also became the first party to open county offices and announced it would visit other counties ahead of the 2012 elections to open party branch offices and launch a party membership drive.
Separate individuals
The Gichugu legislator criticised ODM for defending its members named in corruption cases saying they should separate individuals from the party.
“What will happen if we castigate anyone who does that which is not our will or close down institutions that name certain leaders in corruption cases?” she asked while addressing the delegates at the Nyamachaki PCEA church in Nyeri.
Ms Karua is one of the many in a crowded field of declared contenders for the presidency in 2012 General Election, the first under the new Constitution.
The number of contenders could reduce depending on whether judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) pre-trial chamber give the nod for prosecution of the so-called Hague Six.
Among those named by ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo as having played key roles in the 2007/2008 post-election mayhem are Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, both of whom harbour presidential ambitions.
But the two could be disqualified to vie if the judges find that they have a case to answer regarding the violence that rocked the country following the disputed presidential elections in 2007.
On Saturday Ms Karua steered away from the changing presidential bid matrix but chose to make public her party’s support for the war on corruption that has seen Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) zero in on senior members of the government, including cabinet ministers.
“We support KACC in its efforts to fight corruption but all its efforts should be within the law,” she said.
She urged parties not to use their platforms to entrench impunity but follow the rule of law which to ensure even those who are named will have a chance to defend themselves and get acquitted.
She warned that the culture of defending suspects would be dangerous for the country and would ensure Kenyans lived with corruption for a long time to come at the expense of development and good governance.
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