Rainbow quits Kanu elections
Oct 11, 2002
THE ruling Kanu party in Kenya suffered a major blow on Friday when Rainbow Alliance members declared they would not attend the presidential nominations scheduled for Monday.
By Reuben Olita in Nairobi
THE ruling Kanu party in Kenya suffered a major blow on Friday when Rainbow Alliance members declared they would not attend the presidential nominations scheduled for Monday.
The alliance announced a parallel rally on the same day at Uhuru Park where they will announce their next course of action.
In failing to enter the nominations whose deadline ended Friday, leading lights Kalonzo Musyoka, George Saitoti, Raila Odinga and Moody Awori said it was not worth their efforts to attend, or in any way participate in the Kasarani proceedings where Kanu was to nominate its presidential candidate.
“We have stated on several occasions that the objective of Rainbow alliance was to ensure that democracy, justice and fairness were practiced not only within Kanu, but also in the entire national politics, the leaders said in a joint statement read by deputy speaker of the national assembly Job Omino at a press conference.
Sources said the monday rally would ratify the transformation of Rainbow alliance into a political party.
The decision to boycott the nomination exercise came a day after the four leaders rejected Daniel arap Moi’s last ditch efforts for peace with the Kanu faction that has given Moi sleepless nights over their rejection for Uhuru Kenyatta as his preferred successor.
Addressing their supporters outside KICC, perhaps for the last time at the KANU headquarters premises, Odinga said Moi had openly shown and expressed bias towards one of the aspiring candidates.
He said there had been massive manipulation of the party delegates list to favour Moi’s candidate. Moi and some Kanu officials, he said, had also gone out of their way to campaign for Kenyatta, using state resources and prematurely reducing the chances of other aspirants.
THE ruling Kanu party in Kenya suffered a major blow on Friday when Rainbow Alliance members declared they would not attend the presidential nominations scheduled for Monday.
The alliance announced a parallel rally on the same day at Uhuru Park where they will announce their next course of action.
In failing to enter the nominations whose deadline ended Friday, leading lights Kalonzo Musyoka, George Saitoti, Raila Odinga and Moody Awori said it was not worth their efforts to attend, or in any way participate in the Kasarani proceedings where Kanu was to nominate its presidential candidate.
“We have stated on several occasions that the objective of Rainbow alliance was to ensure that democracy, justice and fairness were practiced not only within Kanu, but also in the entire national politics, the leaders said in a joint statement read by deputy speaker of the national assembly Job Omino at a press conference.
Sources said the monday rally would ratify the transformation of Rainbow alliance into a political party.
The decision to boycott the nomination exercise came a day after the four leaders rejected Daniel arap Moi’s last ditch efforts for peace with the Kanu faction that has given Moi sleepless nights over their rejection for Uhuru Kenyatta as his preferred successor.
Addressing their supporters outside KICC, perhaps for the last time at the KANU headquarters premises, Odinga said Moi had openly shown and expressed bias towards one of the aspiring candidates.
He said there had been massive manipulation of the party delegates list to favour Moi’s candidate. Moi and some Kanu officials, he said, had also gone out of their way to campaign for Kenyatta, using state resources and prematurely reducing the chances of other aspirants.