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Even Kibaki
is prone to double talk
DAILY NATION,
Nairobi
Story by NATION Reporter
Publication Date: 10/24/2005
Before the Wako Draft was handed
over to the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission and the Yes
and No referendum campaigns kicked off, President Kibaki was away
from the limelight as LDP and NAK activists crisscrossed the
country.
His admirers termed his style of
leadership "hands-off". His detractors read neglect.
But now he is leading the campaigns
for a Yes vote. In July 2000, as the DP chairman, he said 17
districts created by the Kanu regime "should be scrapped and
all civil servants attached to them retrenched". He also said
all provinces should be done away with to reduce public
expenditure. But his administration is now in the process of
creating 14 new districts.
"Districts created by the
former Kanu government are there to stay," he said. "Those
misleading the public and creating fear should stop doing
so."
When he was elected in 2002, Kibaki
vowed to uphold the rule of law, saying it "should be our
most enduring legacy as a government". But on numerous
instances, he has failed to do this.
Recently, he issued title deeds to
the Ogiek community, disregarding a court order against the
exercise.
In a pre-election note, he wrote of
the importance of a free Press, outlining "draconians
conditions which had slowed the development of investigative
journalism in Kenya." Among them were "informal
repression, humiliation and harassment".
In April 2003, two newspapers
reported that Kibaki had sought a court declaration that he was
immune to a civil suit in which a businessman had sued him for
failure to repay Sh10 million he took in 1997.
Through his lawyers, Kibaki wanted
The Standard and the Kenya Times journalists charged with contempt
of court over how they obtained the information. Justice Erastus
Githinji ruled that the reports were "fairly accurate."
In February 2002, Kibaki criticised
the Kanu Government for demolishing kiosks in Nairobi. "This
is a clear testimony that the Government is only interested in
giving lip service to poverty alleviation while actually it is
committed to creating chaos through destruction of property and
lives," he said. In just three years, his Government's
demolition of kiosks is legendary.
Kibaki also promised that the
Government would be "slimmer but more efficient". Yet
his Cabinet has 29 ministers and 42 assistants. He also promised
that no new currency would be printed with his image or name on
it. This went unheeded, with the release of the Sh40 coin when
Kenya marked its 40th birthday in December 2003.
His greatest turnaround, however,
is the inclusion of selected leaders from outside Narc - mainly
from Kanu and Ford-People - into the Government. It goes against
the pre-election spirit and pledges that swept him into power.
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