Sunday, December 11, 2011

I’m not out to be anyone’s running mate



  SHARE BOOKMARKPRINTEMAILRATING
By PETER KENNETH
Posted  Saturday, December 10  2011 at  23:18
If you believe Prof Makau Mutua, then Prime Minister Raila Odinga has been having sleepless nights thinking about who he should have for a running mate in the race to State House. (Sunday Nation, December 4, 2011).
But then the columnist appears to turn the PM’s sleepless nights nightmarish. He suggests that Mr Odinga should consider having me on his presidential ticket.
I find it odd that this same Prof Mutua ,who does not have me on his slate of those he calls serious contenders for the presidency, turns around and endorses me for the position of Deputy President!
Prof Mutua also nominates me for the position of future muthamaki (leader) of the Agikuyu.
I would be remiss and out of character if I did not thank Prof Mutua for nominating me to these lofty positions.
That done, let me make it clear that I am persuaded that the professor’s write-up was an attempt to demean and downgrade my person, ambition and plans for our country.
Why else would he want me to bide my time and run at a later stage? Why does he want me to play second fiddle to Mr Odinga? And why, pray, would he prescribe a tribe-based alliance for me?
Thankfully, these pieces of advice have, as they would say in the United States where Prof Mutua lives, come a day late and a dollar short.
Prof Mutua’s advice is late because I began to think about our future a long time ago. It is a dollar short because it will hold back my plans for a prosperous Kenya.
Share This Story
Share 
I am a different kind of politician. I am clear in my mind that the alliances that Kenya needs must not be based on tribes, but on ideas about making Kenya Africa’s Silicon Valley of world-class IT-based technological innovations.
I have addressed the matter of tribal alliances before and my view remains the same — they are archaic and retrogressive.
I only support alliances based on ideas not tribes or regions. Indeed tribal alliances are responsible for Kenya’s problems of poverty, food insecurity and inadequate healthcare nearly five decades after independence.
This is why I insist that leaders and particularly those seeking the highest office in the land must be judged on their record. You cannot have a dismal record in private or public sectors and ask Kenyans to somehow set that aside and vote for you.
I want to be judged on my record and I do not want my record to be appended to somebody else’s ticket, especially for purposes of bolstering that person’s presidential run or balancing some ethnic equation.
Although I have not as yet officially declared my running for presidency, I have left no doubt in the minds of Kenyans where our country should be headed and where I am headed.
I agree with Prof Mutua that I am a leader of the future but his definition of future is not mine. I want to lead Kenya now into the future. I believe strongly that at this moment I have something unique to offer the country in terms of genuine leadership.
The reason for that is simple; we need to address urgently the challenges of our time especially food insecurity and youth unemployment. I have not heard nor do I expect the old guard to proffer new creative and innovative ways to address these issues.
The world is changing, the old ways will not do; it’s time for a new generation of leaders — one that delivers. The time for new leadership for a better tomorrow is now and not tomorrow.
The writer is MP for Gatanga www.peterkenneth.com

No comments:

Post a Comment