By GEOFFREY RONO ( email the author)
Posted Saturday, February 9 2013 at 12:11
Posted Saturday, February 9 2013 at 12:11
A Jubilee women's campaign team has urged supporters to ignore calls from theinternational community warning of "consequences" if Uhuru Kenyatta is elected president.
The lobby asked the West to allow Kenyans elect their leaders without interference saying Mr Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto were poised to form the next government.
"The duo (Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto) have not been convicted to warrant threats from the international community of sanctioning a financial embargo to Kenya if they took over power” the lobby led by former nominated MP Rachel Shebesh said.
The group maintained that Kenya was a sovereign State and petitioned foreign countries to stop interfering with the country’s internal affairs in the name of donor funding.
Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are facing crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The two are accused of bearing the greatest responsibility for the violence that followed a disputed presidential election in which 1,133 people were killed and 650,000 displaced.
Also accused are former head of civil service Francis Muthaura and former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.
The trials for the four will begin on April 10.
Ms Shebesh and her group lauded US President Barrack Obama for his remarks that his government will not take sides in the March 4 General Election and asked other foreign countries to emulate this exemplary stand.
"There is no day that Kenyans will make a decision and the international community fail to respect it," Ms Shebesh stated.
The lobby spoke at Chebole, Kamungei, Tembwo, Kapkelei and Ndanai trading centres and Sotik primary school sports grounds in Sotik district Friday.
Ms Shebesh was accompanied by assistant minister Beatrice Kones, former Sotik MP Joyce Laboso, former Eldoret South MP Peris Simam, Kandara MP candidate Alice Muthoni and URP Bomet county women representative candidate Cecilia Ngetich.
The group criticised Cord presidential candidate Raila Odinga for using land and The Hague cases as a campaign tool and to malign Jubilee leaders.
The lobby said land issues were sensitive and emotive and if left unchecked would create despondency and raise tension among Kenyans.
The team urged Kenyans to elect Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto to prove to the world that the two were not behind the post election violence that rocked the country in 2007/2008.
Ms Shebesh said Mr Ruto sacrificed his presidential ambition in favour of Mr Kenyatta for the sake of peace and the unity of purpose in the country.
"The Mt Kenya people will not take such sacrifice for granted. Rift valley residents will reap the fruits of the sacrifice in the next government," she said.
The team urged the coalition supporters to vote as a bloc to make the jubilee government strong.
Mrs Kones and Ms Simam, who lost their parliamentary seats nominations, said they had conceded defeat and vowed to support Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto and other candidates.
Dr Laboso, who won the Sotik parliamentary seat nomination, appealed to the area residents to give her the same backing during the March 4 General Election.
Readers should confine themselves to our Blog Rules. We reserve the right to disallow any person found spreading hate.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment