Friday
April 13, 2012
April 13, 2012
Politics
Mr Uhuru Kenyatta (centre) on April 12, 2012 announced that he was bowing out of the Kanu chairmanship. Photo/FILE
By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Thursday, April 12 2012 at 22:30
Posted Thursday, April 12 2012 at 22:30
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday announced that he was bowing out of the Kanu chairmanship.
Mr Kenyatta, who termed Saturday's delegate’s conference as a “gathering”, did not say whether he would attend but criticised the organisers.
Mr Kenyatta said his decision not to defend the chairmanship was in order to comply with the law.
In the statement, Mr Kenyatta said the party’s
secretary general Nick Salat had failed to honour most of the agreements
Kanu had reached since last year.
He said that he had called the NDC twice but called
it off because of sideshows instigated by Mr Salat, “who has been an
obstacle to the process of compliance.”
“I am happy to see people who have been an
impediment to the party resurgence start to take steps towards this
endeavour. These individuals should desist from sideshows and the wild
allegations they are now making in this regard and instead put their
efforts towards full compliance of Kanu. It is this insincerity and
double speak that has been our greatest challenge in building Kanu,” Mr
Kenyatta said.
He went on: “Such behaviour is inconsistent with a
party that seeks to form the next government. It is, therefore, my hope
that the gathering called by the secretary general this Saturday will
tackle these issues.”
The Deputy Prime Minister also said that in
compliance with the new laws, he would not seek any party position as he
intended to vie for the presidency. State officers are barred from
holding positions in political parties.
Earlier Thursday, Mr Salat called a press conference where
it emerged that the two factions are involved in a tussle over the
control of the party’s assets estimated at hundreds of millions of
shillings.
Mr Salat expressed fears that the issue of assets
could be at the centre of the wrangles, adding that some delegates who
were to attend Saturday's NDC had received threats as part of a larger
scheme to ensure that Kanu was deregistered.
“Kanu has a lot of assets including the KICC which
belongs to us and was taken away from us. Some of these assets have been
sold and others being misused at the moment. We need to trace all this
property and ensure that it is safe,” Mr Salat said at the Kanu
headquarters.
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