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Accusing Kibaki
Wednesday October 5, 2005
THE STANDARD
By Joseph Murimi
Roads minister Raila Odinga and
Kanu Chairman Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday led the Orange team in
accusing President Kibaki of turning to "bribery’’ in the
referendum war.
They dismissed the President
Kibaki’s decree that part of Mau Forest where the Government
recently violently evicted inhabitants be opened up for selected
squatters and the rest be resettled elsewhere, as some of the
‘sweeteners’ he was dishing out in exchange for a Yes vote.
The Raila team cited the revision
of the 2.5-acre land subdivision limit, transfer of the management
of Amboseli National Park to the Olkejuado County Council, promise
of salary increase to chiefs and councillors as glaring examples
of how the Government planned to bribe voters.
The two led 10 MPs in a Press
conference at the Orange Secretariat as Vice President Moody Awori
and Lands Minister Amos Kimunya defended Kibaki against the claims,
saying the decision was not linked to November 21 referendum.
Awori said the resettlement
programme was a humanitarian act with Kimunya insisting that the
squatters would celebrate Christmas on new land.
"It will not make a difference,
Kenyans cannot be hoodwinked by handouts,’’ Raila said. He
described the Government’s move as a desperate attempt to win
votes, saying it had even started distributing relief food to
certain parts of country to soften the ground ahead of the
referendum.
He dismissed the leaders who are
calling for the postponement of the referendum, the group is known
as ‘middle-grounders’ or Fruit Salad (blend of Orange and
Banana), saying their arguments did no make sense.
He said some people could not
differentiate between a referendum and a general election, adding
that it should not be postponed just because people are divided.
Uhuru claimed it was now clear from
the Government’s actions that their fear was valid and justified
Kenyans to return a No verdict at the referendum.
"Government actions prove
beyond any doubt that the arguments of the No team are valid. It
has justified the arguments for a No vote,’’ added Uhuru.
"We are amused that a
Government whose members have always exhibited the highest form of
arrogance and insensitivity to the plight of poor Kenyans, is now
running helter-skelter, dishing out all manner of pledges to get
people to vote Yes,’’ said Kanu Secretary General William Ruto,
who read the Orange statement.
He claimed it was now clear that
the Yes leaders would stop at nothing in their attempt to push
through a document that has been rejected by majority of Kenyans.
"They have indicated that they can break or ignore the law,
reverse Government policy at whim, dish out billions of tax payers
money and purport to give away national parks,’’ Ruto said.
The statement described the
Government’s action as "an act of desperation."
Ruto said the Government had
resorted to using every trick in the book to entice people to vote
for a flawed document.
He predicted the schemes would fail
and that Kenyans should continue to enjoy the Banana gifts, but
vote "No" at the referendum.
But the No group argued that
Kenyans were "far too intelligent to see through the
hypocrisy and arrogance of those in power, to be hoodwinked into
throwing their future for 30 pieces of silver.’’
The Government said on Sunday that
it would resettle the Mau evictees in a move that was clearly
aimed at wooing support for the Draft Constitution.
A statement issued from State
House, Nairobi, said the evictees would be allowed to return to
their farms once a demarcation exercise setting out boundaries for
forestland is complete. Several forests were also set aside
exclusively for the resettlement of 12,000 members of the Ogiek
community in the Rift Valley. President Kibaki also ordered speedy
issuance of titles.
But yesterday, the Orange team
dismissed the move by the Government as insincere and only
inspired by its desire to win support for the draft.
Those who attended the news
conference included former Cabinet members Bonaya Godana, Musalia
Mudavadi and Prof Sam Ongeri. Also present were LDP’s secretary
for legal affairs Otieno Kajwang’ and MPs Omingo Magara, Sammy
Weya and Archbishop Stephen Ondieki.
Raila who was accompanied by MPs
David Sudi, Jimmy Choge, Moses Cheboi and Maxwell Shamalla of the
East African Legislative Assembly later joined the group at the
Orange House.
On the Mau resettlement Ruto said
the Government, in the name of saving a fragile water catchment
area, supported the brutalisation of innocent land-owning
villagers, burning of schools and churches and the ultimate
displacement of over 20,000 people.
The Government, he added, ignored
pleas by Opposition leaders not to evict people without giving
them alternative settlement. "Now the referendum is around
the corner and they are rushing to settle them. What deceit is
this?’’ he asked.
Ruto took issue with Kimunya’s
previous statement that the title deeds held by the people were
worthless pieces of paper. Yesterday he wondered "where he
got the wisdom to realise they were genuine."
Ruto said the Narc Government came
up with the controversial land reform policy limiting sub-division
to on 2.5 acres even though it knew Kenyans owned less than an
acre or none at all.
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