Mudavadi still my friend says Raila

Written By:PMPS,    Posted: Fri, Feb 10, 2012

Raila reiterated that ODM was the best placed party to be elected into the leadership of this country Prime Minister Raila Odinga assured supporters that Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi is still his friend and that the party nominations will determine who runs for president on the party ticket. Mr. Odinga sets the record straight after demands from delegates to know whether Mudavadi's declaration was a form of sabotage to his ambitions. Sigor MP, Wilson Litole asked the judiciary and the police department to look into Lari MP David Njuguna's arson attack on his vehicle and house after he asked the President to return the favor and front Raila for president come the next elections. Litole said it beat logic why when Tuju reported his attack in Kisumu his was looked into and up until now no one was speaking out for Mr. Njuguna and the police had not started any investigations after over a week. The two were speaking in Trans Nzoia where the PM was meeting with ODM delegates from West Pokot and Trans Nzoia Counties. Meanwhile, the PM has arrived in Kakamega on his last leg of a tour of Western Kenya aimed  at familiarizing himself with  the newly elected ODM grassroots leaders  while also popularizing the party  in the region ahead of the general elections . Addressing a gathering outside the ODM offices, Mr. Odinga called for  an end to infighting among party officials  in  some party branches the area saying ODM  is a peaceful party   that  promotes   democratic values and practices that  are accommodative to all. "We must demonstrate to others that we are the most democratic party in the country and any ideological differences should  be treated as such, not be taken as enmity  among  party officials," he added. Noting that the elections were nearing, Mr. Odinga reiterated that ODM was the best placed party to be elected into the leadership of this country. Quoting the late Tanzanian Leader Mwalimu Julius Nyerere he said, "ODM has the intention, the ability and the means to win the elections and form the next government. Elsewhere, the PM wants Kenyans to jealously protect the new constitution to fully reap the benefits of a devolved system of governance. He asked them to be vigilant and defend the laws they endorsed at the referendum especially now that a section of politicians had floated the idea of reducing the authority of the county government. Odinga argued that country witnessed disparities in development since independence because the devolution structures in the old laws were deliberately amended to create an imperial presidency that ruled rather than led the nation. He cautioned Kenyans to be wary of a scheme to retain executive power within the executive at the central government and urged them to vote the crop of leadership who believed in the new laws. "We wanted change in governance so that we devolve power and resources from the central to county government so that we elect leaders rather than be ruled through provincial administrators" the Premier said. He at the same time recommends the formulation of a comprehensive land resettlement policy to increase room for agricultural production in rural areas. He said there was need to restructure the current settlements patterns in areas that were rich with potential for food production where the squatter menace was common. Raila  expressed fears that successive regimes had since independence failed to address the plight of the landless a trend that gave way for emergence of slums in rural areas. "We want to come up with a comprehensive solution to the squatter problem and fully exploit land as a factor of production" he said. The premier told a gathering in Kitale Town of the need to allocate settlement zones and consolidate the space created for commercial farming as is the case in the developed world. He said "we had a false start at independence because 50 years down the line we are still grappling with the same challenges" that the nation inherited from the founding fathers of the nation. Odinga said the proposed policy could address land challenges in densely populated areas where majority of the locals remained squatters even after the colonial masters surrendered their farms back to natives at independence. He said a similar strategy paid off in Israel and Malawi which later turned around the economies of the two countries from a food importer to a major exporter of the same. The Premier who is on a three days tour in Western Kenya gave the recommendation after communities in TransNzoia County asked for his help in addressing the squatters' problem within the settlement schemes. He later presided over the opening of the County's Orange house at  new Kitale market before holding a meeting with the  local Orange Democratic Movement party officials at the Showgrounds. Forestry Minister Noah Wekesa was among leaders who welcomed the premier who was accompanied by MPs Alfred Khangati, Nicholas Gumbo, and Joshua litole.