Cord, Jubilee bosses in fight for survival

Leaders in peace call as coalitions brace for primaries

By NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Tuesday, January 15  2013 at  20:35

In Summary

• Raila and Uhuru face a litmus test tomorrow as some of their strongest supporters, among them Mutula, Wanjiru, Gumo, Kajembe, Oburu, Waititu, Okundi and Kosgey battle it out with younger rivals for senate and governor tickets amid fears of disgruntled allies defecting to other parties

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The stage is set for epic political battles on Thursday and party re-alignments which could change the course of the election.

Three main coalitions are nominating their candidates, meaning that prominent politicians will find themselves in a position to either see their dreams come to a premature end, or desert their parties.

The countrywide nominations are a big political undertaking for parties and the government has closed public schools so that they can be used as polling stations.

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord), the Jubilee coalition and the Amani coalition have all set tomorrow as the day for nominations, hoping that losers will not have enough time to shift to other parties.

Leaders, led by President Kibaki, aware of the risk of clashes, have asked parties to ensure peace during their nominations. The President appealed to the youth not to agree to be used to cause violence.

“Let us be true democrats who accept defeat and be humble in victory,” he said.

Cord presidential candidate Raila Odinga met with running mate Kalonzo Musyoka and Trade minister Moses Wetang’ula and pledged fair, free and transparent nominations.

They also pleaded with those who will lose to stick with the coalition, stating that Cord was on its way to victory come March 4.

“The principals would like to strongly assure all aspirants, party supporters and the Kenyan people of free and fair Cord nominations. We will spare no effort to make the exercise a success,” a statement from Cord secretariat said.

Mr Johnson Sakaja, the chairman of The National Alliance which is a member of the Jubilee coalition, said even though the nominations will be hotly contested, they will ensure they are transparent.

“The nominations will be hotly contested and our duty is to ensure they are free and fair. We have prepared our aspirants in case they lose,” he said.

United Republic Party’s Aden Duale said they had taken delivery of ballot papers and were ready for the primaries. No one, the official of the Jubilee allied party said, will be cleared without facing the nomination hurdle.