Joseph Kanyi | NATION Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohamed ( left) addresses the journalists after a meeting at Mukurwe-ini on December 29, 2011. With him are Mr Ndiritu Muriithi, Mr George Nyamweya and area MP Kabando wa Kabando.
By JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com AND BILLY MUIRURI bmuiruri@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, December 31 2011 at 23:00
Posted Saturday, December 31 2011 at 23:00
IN SUMMARY
- United Democratic Front group ready with a ‘major announcement’
Rebellion in President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity has gone a notch higher after youthful MPs under the United Democratic Front banner announced they will make a major political announcement in two weeks.
Led by Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohamed, the leaders said they were unhappy with the way the big guns in the PNU Alliance were conducting political affairs and that the move would change the political scene.
“It is useless to have a brand-new Constitution with old politics,” Mr Mohamed told the Sunday Nation from Mukurwe-ini, where he attended a prize-giving ceremony.
Wheat from chaff
The MP said that the group’s plan was to “separate wheat from chaff” and drive change from the front. He was accompanied by the host MP Kabando wa Kabando, Laikipia West MP Ndiritu Muriithi and Nominated MP George Nyamweya.
The assertion that he would make a major announcement this month was the closest the Mandera Central MP has come to hinting at his presidential ambition. At the Mukurwe-ini meeting, the four MPs gave a sneak preview of their party’s manifesto.
One of the proposals is for the government to offer free and compulsory education for up to 14 years and increase funding to youth polytechnics and engineering departments in universities.
“Every youth polytechnic should receive Sh50 million whereas the engineering departments of our public universities should receive Sh2.5 billion per year,” they said in a statement.
The UDF is seen as a third force in Kenya’s emerging politics comprising MPs from Central, North Eastern and Upper Eastern regions.
Although they say they are loyal to their parties, UDF offers them a forum to “reconfigure politics away from the usual faces”.
Mr Mohamed reiterated his earlier statement that the current political party leadership revolves around tribal kingpins, a situation which, in their view, stirs up tribal emotions blamed for the 2007/8 post-election violence.
One of the UDF’s recent attempts at flexing their political muscle was last week when they put up a spirited fight against the approval of the three candidates proposed by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga for the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
Kibaki’s nephew
Notably, assistant ministers Ndiritu Muriithi, who is President Kibaki’s nephew, and Mr Kabando defied the executive’s decision to support the candidates and backed the House committee report which recommended rejection of the principals’ nominees.
Other members in the group are assistant minister Aden Sugow, Abdul Bahari (Isiolo South), Jeremiah Kioni (Ndaragwa), Njoroge Baiya (Githunguri) and Mohammud Sirat (Wajir South).
Mr Baiya is vice-chairman of the Justice and Legal Affairs committee while Mr Nyamweya and Mr Mohamed are members.
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