'Raila will blow Kibaki away'.I write to express my dismay at Wanjohi Kabukuru's article, "Kenya--the race is truly on" (NA, Nov). Like many of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribesmen, Kabukuru's assertions are long on emotions and very short on substance. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Let's take it from the beginning. In his very first line he talks about "tough and difficult". That already told me that the man has a serious grammar problem! KANU KANU Kenya African National Union is but a mere shell, former President Daniel arap Moi Daniel Toroitich arap Moi (born September 2, 1924) was the President of Kenya from 1978 until 2002. Daniel Arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as 'Nyayo', a Swahili word for 'footsteps'. carries zero political weight in Kenya and is as a matter of fact, now routinely heckled at rallies! Opposition leader Uhuru Kenyatta's move to support Kibaki certainly did not cause any shockwaves in Kenya. It had been long in the offing. Both he and Kibaki are of course tribesmen and very much birds of the same feather in many respects! Uhuru's support of Kibaki is similarly tokenism to·ken·ism n. 1. The policy of making only a perfunctory effort or symbolic gesture toward the accomplishment of a goal, such as racial integration. 2. , and if you doubt me on this and KANU's death, wait for the election results on 28 December. KANU as a separate political entity will not win even 20 of the 210 parliamentary seats up for grabs. Raila Odingas ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) A contract manufacturer that uses its own designs and intellectual property (IP). See contract manufacturer. , on the other hand, will win between 110-130 seats. Kabukuru describes Kibaki as "... a brilliant economist with an illustrious career". Can Kabukuru kindly enumerate To count or list one by one. For example, an enumerated data type defines a list of all possible values for a variable, and no other value can then be placed into it. See device enumeration and ENUM. for us Kibakis track record as an economist? To the best of my knowledge, Kibaki does not have any record as an economist worth describing as "illustrious". He only holds a basic undergraduate degree from the London School of Economics The School is a member of the Russell Group, the European University Association, Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Community of European Management Schools and International Companies, The Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs as well as the Golden . This was obtained in the mid-1950s! He worked briefly as a lecturer at Uganda's Makerere University before joining politics in 1961. On Raila Odinga, Kabukuru's tribal inclinations come out clearly when he states: "... a dismal performance ... getting only 700,000 votes". He is being journalistically dishonest as he fails to tell us how the other contenders fared, but most importantly that Kibaki was one of the failed contenders, not only in 1997 but also in the previous 1992 elections!! Kabukuru then passes off a blatant lie for facts. Raila never decamped from KANU to join Kibaki in NARC 'narc' American slang for narcotics enforcement agent. Cf Narks. . The correct and factual position is as follows: Raila left KANU, formed the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP LDP - Linux Documentation Project ). He then led the LDP into negotiations with Kibaki's NAK (Negative AcKnowledgement) A communications code used to indicate that a message was not received, or that a terminal does not wish to transmit. Contrast with ACK. NAK - Negative Acknowledgement , and the result was the birth of the 2002 election vehicle, NARC. I challenge Kabukuru to disprove this. Mwai Kibaki is unelectable un·e·lect·a·ble adj. Being such that election, as to high office, is difficult or impossible: The candidate's private life rendered him unelectable. in Kenya! I can give you 12 strong reasons why he will be blown away by the Raila-led Orange Tsunami on 28 December. That's for next time, after I read Kabukuru's response. Suffice to say today, Kalonzo Musyoka, the other presidential contestant, will, at most, get 700,000 votes. Kibaki will get three million at most, and Raila could cross the six million mark! You have it in writing. I challenge Kabukuru to give his own figures prediction. If Kibaki wins, I will give him [pounds sterling]1,000 (sterling). When Raila wins, he ceases to be a New African correspondent and I take his place! Deal or no deal. Charles Ouko Nairobi, Kenya Attention Readers: Full address please Letters for publication should bear the full name and address of the writer, whether sent by post or email. We can withhold your name and address on request but we cannot publish letters that do not bear the full names and addresses of the writers. Could you also please keep the letters short and straight to the point (maximum length: 300 words) Editor |
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