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Kalonzo: Presidential bid caused poll chaos
28 August 2008
Daily Nation
Nairobi: Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has said his candidature for presidency might have fuelled the chaos that rocked the country after the 2007 General Election. Addressing a parliamentary meeting at Windsor Hotel in Nairobi, he said the "mere fact" that he was a presidential candidate had contributed to the build-up of passions ahead of the election to the extent that the resulting violence would have been inevitable.
The other candidates who contested the presidency, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki, have vowed "never again" would the country return to such levels of destruction. The two months of post-election violence following a disputed presidential election left more than 1,000 people dead and 350,000 displaced. Calm only returned to the country after the two key protagonists—President Kibaki and Mr Odinga—agreed to share power after a deal was struck by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
Mr Musyoka told more than 100 MPs and experts from Africa, Europe and Japan that the outcome of the parliamentary elections was democratic and only a few contestants had challenged the results in court. He called on leaders to avoid "confrontational and all-consuming brand of politics, if we are to tackle problems such as extreme poverty and hunger."
The VP linked poor application of the Constituency Development Fund to the high number of MPs- nearly two-thirds of the 210 strong parliament-who lost.
"The MPs abandoned their oversight responsibility and some even appointed themselves as chairmen of the committees," he said.
Only one Kenyan MP, Muhoroni's Ayiecho Olweny, attended today’s conference on climate change, poverty reduction and food security. More than 100 MPs from across Africa, Europe and Japan are attending the conference which ends on Thursday.
Mr Musyoka urged MPs to champion for transparency and accountability for Africa's development saying people in the continent were yearning for change.
"The 21st century is the time to lift up the African continent," he said and named adverse climate change, poverty and inadequate food as problems facing the continent.
In Kenya, the VP who is also the Minister for Home Affairs said, erratic weather due to climate change had led to reduced food production. He challenged the MPs to help prevent climate change by influencing implementation of good policies to curtail destruction of the environment and reduce pollution.
"MPs should not just watch as future generations are threatened," he said.
He also asked farmers to adopt new farming technologies and stop depending on rain fed agriculture to boost food security.
Keywords: Kenya, elections, climate change,
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