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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Karua unmoved by MPs exodus

BY LABAN WANAMBISI

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NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 29 - Narc Kenya Chairperson Martha Karua on Tuesday declared that she was not worried by a mass exodus of members to support her political rival Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta ahead of the 2012 General Election.

She told a media conference in Nairobi that her focus was on genuine members who have a long-term conviction in the Party.

"It’s a way of things sorting themselves out, we are totally undeterred and moving on," she said after receiving a recognition award from Bidco Oil Refineries for her struggle to ensure democracy and constitutional change.

"As a presidential hopeful I am on course, Narc-K is on course and its growing by the day and my eyes are on the prize."

Narc Kenya MPs William Kabogo, Robinson Githae and Erastus Mureithi have in the recent past been openly supporting Mr Kenyatta who has expressed his willingness to contest for the top seat in the 2012 poll.

Signs that Mr Githae who is also the Nairobi Metropolitan Minister had broken ranks with the ‘iron lady of Kenyan politics, became apparent when he led the Party of National Unity (PNU) campaigns for the Kirinyaga Central by-election, which PNU`s Joseph Gitari won, giving Mr Githae the full bragging rights as the political point man in the Kirinyaga and Mt Kenya region.

Juja MP William Kabogo has defended his decision to ditch Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karua in favour of Mr Kenyatta.

Speaking when he hosted Kiambu County civic leaders at his parents’ home in Ruiru early this month, the flamboyant MP said he had not fallen out with Ms Karua but tradition dictates that he supports Mr Kenyatta.

'It is not that I have anything against her, but it is in our tradition to support our own,' he said.

Another Narc Kenya MP Ol-Kalou legislator Erastus Mureithi expressed his intention to ditch the flower party for the PNU as the clock ticks towards the 2012 General Elections.

Mr Mureithi who is the party's Resource Mobilisation Committee Chairman confirmed that he will support Mr Kenyatta in his quest for the 2012 Presidency.

While announcing his intention, Mr Mureithi said the bandwagon led by Ms Karua was headed for doom owing to her hard stand on the pending International Criminal Court case against six Kenyans.

Mr Kenyatta and five other suspects including Eldoret North MP William Ruto have been summoned to appear before The Hague based court over the 2008 post election violence that led to the death of more than 1,500 Kenyans and displacement of over 650,000 others.

Ms Karua also says they will not file a complaint with the Registrar of Political Parties on the shifting alliances by party MPs.

"I am not a regulator, let the Registrar do her worrying. Let me do the worry of myself as a candidate and as a leader of Narc-K," she stated.

The Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndungu has in past declined to intervene into a membership spats in ODM. This follows a letter by the Party seeking de-registration and expulsion of Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto and his Dujis counterpart Adan Duale.

The Registrar instead demanded that the orange party to first expel, remove or suspend the two legislators before she could strike off the members’ names from the party register.

According to the Political Parties Act Article 3, a person can be deemed to have quit his original political party if he forms another political party, joins the formation of another political party, joins another political party or in any way and manner, publicly advocates for the formation of another political party.

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Read more: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/Karua-unmoved-by-MPs-exodus-12216.html#ixzz1I02AQSVi
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