Battle for the swing vote

Hague cases won’t stop us, say Ruto and Uhuru

By ISAAC ONGIRI iongiri@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Sunday, January 13  2013 at  00:30

In Summary

• The Jubilee leaders discredit recent opinion poll giving their Cord opponents a 12 percentage point lead as inconsequential
• Uhuru laughs off opinion poll results that indicate a Cord victory in Nairobi County

Jubilee presidential torchbearer Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday formally launched his campaigns at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park where he declared that the case facing him at the International Criminal Court would not stop him in his quest for the presidency.

Mr Kenyatta dismissed a recent opinion poll that placed him behind his Cord opponent Raila Odinga and laid out his vision for the country and the economy.

The Deputy Prime Minister and his running mate, URP leader William Ruto, told their supporters they were not bothered by the ICC cases and asserted that their focus remained on the campaigns.

Mr Kenyatta used the event attended by a mammoth crowd, including more than 40 MPs and dozens of political aspirants, to discuss issues his team planned to prioritise if they win the March 4 elections.

Mr Ruto led supporters in discrediting the latest opinion poll results that projected a first round victory for Cord.

Mr Kenyatta, too, dismissed the polls suggesting he would lose to Mr Odinga by a 12 percentage margin and criticised his opponents for focusing so much on the ICC cases to discredit them. The DPM asked his supporters not to worry about polls saying they were manipulated and meant nothing.

The DPM told his supporters that a Jubilee government would focus on peace initiatives, adding that national unity and economic development would top his agenda.

“It is unfortunate that our opponents can’t talk about anything else other than the cases we are facing. We want to ask them to leave us alone. Sell your policies and let Kenyans decide,” Mr Kenyatta said.

The Jubilee team announced a massive transformation plan aimed at turning around the economy in their first year in power into a double-digit growth.

His plan in the transport sector includes introduction of an affordable railway transport system in Nairobi and other cities in the country.

“We have put in place a robust plan that will ease the transport problem in Nairobi. We will roll out an affordable railway transport system,” Mr Kenyatta said.

He added that his government would also invest on women and youth empowerment projects and address security concerns around the country.