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Showing posts with label Uhuru Kenyatta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uhuru Kenyatta. Show all posts
Friday, April 26, 2013
Foreign Policy: Americans Make Contact!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Election Watch 2013: Uhuru Kenyatta - Jubilee Presidential Candidate talks to Aljazeera
Memorable Quotes
There is no escaping the fact that I am whom I am - Uhuru Kenyatta
Monday, February 25, 2013
Election Watch: Second Presidential Debate
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| The eight Presidential Candidates |
Time: 7 pm
Watch the debate live here: http://www.youtube.com/elections
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Lessons from Party Primaries: The Good, the Bad and the Unexpected
The party primaries came and passed. Now that calm has
returned there are some lessons we can draw from the fiascos of party
primaries;
· We need a public holiday to conduct party primaries
The state should give a holiday for the electorate to
participate in this exercise. We saw a good number of good candidates loose the
party primaries because the so called middle class we at work and the aspirants
with street swag we’re able to mobilize support.
· IEBC needs to conduct the Party Primaries
Most of the party primaries we’re done in haphazard manner.
In some cases there we’re delays of days because the election materials we’re
not in polling stations on time.
· Party Boys will always be Party Boys
We witnessed broad day light rigging in some regions.
Especially in ODM and TNA zones where primaries are as good as elections. Some
of the areas where there were question marks were Nyanza and Central Province.
In the lead up to the election days we might be witnessing new voting patterns
is this dissent we witnessed was quelled by party organs that rigged in the
party boys
· The Fall Out in Nyanza Province
Some commentators have gone as far as calling it a Luo
Spring. How this shapes up is yet to be fully seen but in an area like Nyanza
Province where the Prime Minister has commanded a spell over might be finally
coming to an end.
We witnessed a good number of Odinga’s vying and the
electorate refusing them. The era of an insightful voter is coming to the being
and this can be attributed to;
1.
High literacy levels in these areas
2.
Technology especially mobile penetration
3.
Access to information through local radio
station
The fall out was not exclusive to Nyanza because we
witnessed a fall out in Othaya [President Kibaki’s backyard] where Mary Wambui
and Gichuki battled it out and we witnessed some drama.
· Get bloggers party to cover your opponents Primaries
and ‘expose’ short comings
During the primary exercise we witnessed some bloggers who
we know their party affiliation all of a sudden move to their opponents regions
to cover the primaries. The idea here was to report as much filth as possible
on nomination exercise of their opponents. In so doing they painted a bad
picture of their opponent’s primary exercise.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Tweet of the Week: President Obama Message to Kenyan's
Twitter was the new tool that was used by Candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama as they campaigned for office in the 2012 US elections. It was instrumental in sending out messages to supporters, conceding defeat and announcing the win.
The US administration has moved on with this trend when on February 5, 2013 the white house tweeted the below tweet.
President Obama's message to the people of Kenya on their upcoming elections: on.wh.gov/992xRVU Watch: on.wh.gov/aZLBKal
— The White House (@whitehouse) February 5, 2013
And as fate would have it it looks likely that the 4th president of Kenya will be on twitter. If he will continue to use that medium after the win is another thing all together. The two leading contenders for presidency have a presence on twitter going by the handles;
@RailaOdinga and
In fact one of the candidates went as far as to tweet this;
I welcome the statement made by The US president @barackobama. I personally & we as #CORD are in complete agreement with it.
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) February 6, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Election Watch: Kenya Presidential Debate 2013 - An Idea whose Time has Come
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| Presidential Debate |
First ever live presidential debate in Kenya now set for February 11th #PresidentialDebateKE
— Presidential Debate(@KenyaDebate2013) January 16, 2013
The media fraternity came up with the concept of a presidential debate. The first of it's kind in Africa. At first it was looking mission impossible with initial dates set moved to February 11, 2013 because of a number of factors key among them being a crowded presidential race and no primaries conducted as at that time.
However, this debate looks highly likely and it should be a significant occurrence in the elections calendar. Currently, we are posed for a run off going by the current polls however, there also a huge segment of undecided voters in these opinion polls.
Gainers and Losers
The small parties have all to gain in these debate because they get to share a podium with the two biggest parties. I have been listening to the small parties and my take is that they have a clear policy articulation strategy. However, they are faced with budget constrains and sometimes a media that does not give them airtime
CORD stands to lose the most especially with presidential candidate Raila Odinga who is still the Prime Minister of Kenya. Raila is good with big crowds in his trademark Kitendawili's but it is a wait and see if he will have the incubent syndrome where he is NOT used to being used hard questions which sometimes might look off to someone enjoing the trappings of power. The other to gain/lose is the deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta. Though, not a reigning minister he is the immediate Finance minister before he was forced by civic society to step down because of Hague case. He will be expected to explain to the nation on how they intend to go about the business of governing the country while they have cases to answer at the Hague. Also, Jubilee launched an excellent manifesto which he will be expected to explain how they will raise funds to execute that five year plan.
For Musalia Mudavadi who is currently trailing the two but has had the backing of former head of state and looks increasingly as a state house project. It will be great to watch Mr. Mudavadi in the same stage with his former party boss Raila Odinga.
Other interesting things to looks for is the chemistry between Martha Karua [the ONLY woman running for presidency this year] and Uhuru Kenyatta and also chemistry between Uhuru Kenyatta and Peter Kenneth whom am told do accommodate each other.
Lastly, I will be looking for Prof. Ole Kiyapi who has been presenting his agenda in a coherent format. The key question is will be professing or engaging.
Facebook Page: Kenya Presidential Debate
Twitter: @KenyaPresidentialDebate2013
Website: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/elections
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Campaign Dispatches #Uchaguzi2013: Uhuru Kenya Presidential Campaign website is up!
Website: http://www.uhuru.co.ke/
The Kenyan elections is less than two months away and as we approach the elections [which is turning out to be a two horse race] the different campaign have began leveraging on information technology to woo the youth vote.
In these elections I am interested in understanding how the presidential candidates will use tech to pass out their information. Today the Jubilee Coalition which is made up of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto commonly known as #UhuRuto is launching it's presidential campaign at Uhuru Park. This website has been launched to mark this occasion.
I have had a look at the website and it has a good User Interface [UI] and User Experience [UX]. Also, it is a one stop shop for election pundits. However, the site has no info on his running mate William Ruto and the events calendar does not show UK's schedule. However this is a good start.
The other problem I have with the site is that it is static. Seems to be an avenue to get email addresses for die hard UK fan's. Now waiting to see what the competitors will unveil...
Friday, November 16, 2012
Excellent read on Nation Newspaper on Nov. 15 2012: A National Agenda Elections 2013
The nation newspaper carried a great excerpt yesterday which
in my opinion has been one of the most comprehensive and biased look at issues
as we approach the election next year. I have been seeing politicians launch
their party to great pomp and color but lacking has been substance in form of
manifesto’s with a clear road map of what presidential candidates wish to do
given a chance. Two of the politicians gunning for president have come up with
their 5 point agenda’s. In my opinion some of these agenda’s are very shallow
and are not informed by population needs but you can give these two politicians
Charity Ngilu and Peter Kenneth for trying.
The following we’re the issues which according to nation
newspaper should be addressed by the next chief executive;
1.
Job Creation
2.
Food Security
3.
Health Care
4.
Education
5.
Energy
6.
Water & Environment
7.
Social Protection
8.
Public Infrastructure
9.
National Security & Foreign Policy
10.
Boosting Exports
11.
Devolution & Public Service Reform
12.
Ethnicity
Compare this with what presidential aspirant Peter Kenneth
wishes to address;
1.
Water
2.
Infrastructure
3.
Health care
4.
National Security
5.
Education
You will find he falls short in a great deal. The issue of
job creation in my opinion is cardinal in this campaign which is lacking in
peter Kenneth’s agenda. It is now four months to election date and other major
presidential aspirants TNA’s Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM’s Raila Odinga are yet to
present a clear agenda as to what they intend to do for this country.
So what have these
aspirants been doing?
What I have been observing in the last few months;
·
Presidential candidates have been going across
the country populising themselves
·
Coalition talks have been taking center stage
with breakfast meetings & lunches and night meetings between different
presidential candidates
·
Regional offensive travels. This has been true
for TNA’s Uhuru Kenyatta who has visited Tanzania, Sothern Sudan and Burundi
while Narc Kenya has been to Southern Sudan
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