Monday, October 29, 2012

I will never work with Uhuru, says Njenga



MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 - 00:00 -- BY RAMADHAN RAJAB
Maina Njenga on Uhuru
Mkenya Solidarity Movement leader Maina Njenga addressing the star at a Nairobi hotel yesterday.Photo/Philip Kamakya
FORMER Mungiki leader Maina Njenga has now said he is ready to work with all parties except Uhuru Kenyatta's TNA.
“I can work with any other presidential candidate but not Uhuru Kenyatta. I highly doubt if he (Uhuru) understands the needs of common Kenyans. He has grown up in comfort and cannot appreciate problems affecting the poor people. He has never gone to bed hungry, lacked money to pay hospital bills or even lacked lights in his house because he does not have money to buy kerosene,” Njenga said.
He dismissed the TNA party ideology as one that did not address the issue of how to empower the youth or women and said the party also lacked a programme to create employment for the youth. "This is not a party any serious contender will want to relate with. For the record, l am not a prodigal son. My party is strong enough to stand on its own," added.
Njenga's statement comes just days after TNA officials said they would not welcome him or his Mkenya Solidarity Movement supporters.
Njenga had last week indicated he was considering dissolving the party in favor of Uhuru's TNA. The announcement was supposed to be made during the rally he held at his Kitengela home on Saturday.
However, a day before the MSM rally, the TNA issued a statement dismissing any suggestions that the party would welcome Maina Njenga into the TNA fold.
The Kitengela rally attended by an estimated 10,000 youth as well as members of the local administration and the police, discussed how the youth could co-operate with the local administration and the police to enhance security.
Dismissing TNA as a "Simon Makonde" party which had no appeal for the masses, Njenga cautioned the party against forcing other parties in the Mount Kenya region to pledge allegiance to Uhuru as it was tantamount to stifling the democratic rights of the people of Central Kenya.
“There is something very wrong with the notion that we must all support TNA and Uhuru. Our people must know and appreciate that Kenya belongs to us as well the 42 other tribes. It is not written anywhere that we must unite and produce a president. Those who believe we must all follow Uhuru are misguided because Kenya is not a dynasty and we must not be forced into a single party,” he said.
Njenga said it was TNA, through its chairman Johnson Sakaja who had made overtures to MSM party officials including chairman Watson Simiyu to defect.
Simiyu confirmed that he had held several phone conversations with Sakaja who had told him "if we finish this party, (MKenya Solidarity) we will have finished Maina Njenga."
Njenga said it was ridiculous for any serious candidate to pick and chose which votes he wanted. He said his party had already endorsed him as its presidential candidate after the exit of GG Kariuki who joined TNA.

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