All indications are pointing at Kenyans going to the polls earlier than our countdown by as much as a whole month (30 days). However we will stick to our latest possible date countdown and will only change when the election date is formerly announced.
One of the clear indicators of this is the president’s increased activity. Yesterday he turned up unexpectedly at the Ford People’s delegates’ conference. Terrible PR if you ask me because the implication was that the president is fully behind his cabinet minister Simeon Nyachae. Somebody that he should have fired from his cabinet over the political violence incident in Kisii recently where William Ruto and Omingo Magara were chased by armed youths and got slight injuries as a result. But the issue was not the so much the severity of the injuries as the ugly head of political violence rearing its’ head.
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Just as I was making this post, I received word that President Kibaki has also turned up at the Kanu National Delegates Conference today where he again addressed the Kanu delegates and appealed for their votes. I will analyze this in more detail tomorrow.
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Addressing the delegates the president appealed for votes because his government “imefanya kazi” (has worked hard for the people).
Just before the president arrived, Nyachae was stressing the independence of the party where he said they should build their strength in parliament and will be fielding candidates where they felt they were strong, meaning in Gusiiland (irrespective of what the PNU high command decided.)
Interestingly Nyachae told the press this week that the devil moves in them, even though it was clear who was under the influence of the devil from the naked threats and warlike activities of Simoen Nyachae last week in Kisii.
In a way it is sad that a political party founded by such a principled politician and a man who was before his time, Kimani Wanyoike would end up in the hands of such a violent tribal chief as Simeon Nyachae, a man who milks ethnicity for all that it is worth.
