Tuju quits as Kibaki aide to launch bid for State House

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Former Cabinet minister Raphael Tuju.  

By WALTER MENYA wmenya@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, August 27  2011 at  22:00

IN SUMMARY

• Former minister expected to launch campaign in Nairobi today

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Former Cabinet minister Raphael Tuju has quit his job as President Kibaki’s adviser to run for State House in next year’s elections.

Mr Tuju announced on Saturday that he would launch his presidential campaign in Nairobi on Sunday.

Mr Tuju, who served in Information, Tourism and Foreign Affairs dockets during President Kibaki’s first term, told the Sunday Nation that the President had accepted his resignation as an adviser on ethnic relations.

“I’m happy to have worked for him as a Cabinet minister and adviser. He has released me,” Mr Tuju said.

But he declined to divulge more on his presidential bid, only stating that he would lay out his vision during the launch on Sunday.

Mr Tuju lost the Rarieda parliamentary seat to Mr Nicholas Gumbo in the 2007 General Election, in which he vied on a Party of National Unity ticket against the ODM wave in the region.

And he is likely to come face to face with a more vicious opposition from ODM as he takes head-on Prime Minister Raila Odinga who controls the region politically.

After the 2007 General Election, President Kibaki appointed Mr Tuju and another trusted lieutenant, Prof Kivutha Kibwana, as his advisers, in effect rewarding them for their fervent support before and during his re-election.

Mr Tuju’s entry into the race to succeed President Kibaki is likely to re-ignite the tensions between him and Mr Odinga, dating back to the 2002 General Election.

In June, he questioned the efficiency of the Kazi Kwa Vijana programme in tackling youth unemployment, terming it “a desperate attempt to help the youth”.

The programme is a pet project of Mr Odinga.

He joins a crowded field of presidential hopefuls including Mr Odinga, Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, Saboti’s Eugene Wamalwa, Foreign minister Moses Wetang’ula, Gichugu MP Martha Karua and Gachoka’s Mutava Musyimi.

Mr Tuju has been travelling throughout the country with his Kenya Hope Foundation – an initiative geared towards uniting the communities – to reach the youth whom his campaign will likely bank on to deliver the ticket to State House.