Monday, November 13, 2006
UHURU KENYATTA
FINALY BECOMING HIS OWN MAN......HE IS GETTING OUT OF THE IMPRESSION OF BEING MOIS PROJECT
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born October 26, 1961) is the leader of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), the former ruling party of Kenya and the official leader of opposition in the Kenyan 9th parliament. He is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president (1964–1978). His name, Uhuru, is Swahili for "freedom".
To his supporters Uhuru Kenyatta is a visionary leader. To his detractors the heavy-smoking man is a reluctant politician. Being the son of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Uhuru's upbringing was steeped in politics.
"Growing up in the Kenyatta household taught us many things. My father taught us to treat everyone fairly. He taught us the essence of justice and fairness, he told us to learn from history but not to live in history," Uhuru says.
He attended the prestigious St Mary's School in Nairobi, where his former schoolmates remember him as one of the brightest students. From there he went on to study political science at Amherst College, USA. He is also reputed to be a shrewd businessman, having long played a central role in the vast family business empire.
[edit] Political life
His initial entry into politics came through his election as the chairman of his hometown branch of the ruling party, Kanu, in 1997.This came with the tacit approval of President Moi. At the time, many saw the election as a calculated move to prepare Uhuru for bigger things.
In the general election held the same year, Uhuru contested the Gatundu parliamentary seat, once held by his father. It was assumed he would sail through. But that was not be: Uhuru lost to Moses Mwihia, a little-known Nairobi architect. After losing the election, Uhuru's friends say that he was extremely upset and that he vowed to quit politics altogether.
He hurriedly retreated to the family business empire that includes five-star tourist hotels, airlines and commercial farming. Little did Uhuru know that President Moi was still intent on propelling him onto the national political scene.
In 1999 Moi appointed Uhuru the new chairman of the Kenya Tourism Board, where he worked with Kenya's political power-broker Nicholas Biwott, a very close confidante of the president. Apparently the young Uhuru was undergoing even more intensive training. Then came October 2001 and Uhuru was nominated to parliament and subsequently to the cabinet. In March of this year Uhuru Kenyatta made it big on the national political scene when he was elected as one of the four national vice-chairmen of Kanu.
The former President Moi paid a heavy price for ensuring Kenyatta is Kanu's presidential candidate, with several senior party figures, their own ambitions thwarted, resigning to set up another party(The liberal Democratic Party).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for president in the elections of December 27, 2002. Although Kenyatta's party, KANU, had been in power for all of Kenya's 39 years of independence, he was soundly defeated by the opposition leader Mwai Kibaki, taking only 31% of the vote against 62% for Kibaki. Many attributed his defeat to his association with the retiring president Daniel arap Moi, whose long rule was widely regarded as hopelessly corrupt and ineffectual. He was also seen to be lacking experience and his campaign team lacked the big names, most of whom had left KANU to join the opposition NARC. Despite losing the presidential elections, Uhuru Kenyatta won an MP seat at the Gatundu south constituency.
Since he joined Moi's inner circle, Uhuru Kenyatta has been fighting a not-too-successful battle to prove that he is his own man and not Moi's stooge. In late January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 [1].
Uhuru led his party Kanu in Campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party to form the Orange Democratic Movement. This saw Kenyans humiliate the government by rejecting the draft constitution by a noticiable margin.
He is expected to run again for the presidency in the December 2007 elections.
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born October 26, 1961) is the leader of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), the former ruling party of Kenya and the official leader of opposition in the Kenyan 9th parliament. He is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president (1964–1978). His name, Uhuru, is Swahili for "freedom".
To his supporters Uhuru Kenyatta is a visionary leader. To his detractors the heavy-smoking man is a reluctant politician. Being the son of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Uhuru's upbringing was steeped in politics.
"Growing up in the Kenyatta household taught us many things. My father taught us to treat everyone fairly. He taught us the essence of justice and fairness, he told us to learn from history but not to live in history," Uhuru says.
He attended the prestigious St Mary's School in Nairobi, where his former schoolmates remember him as one of the brightest students. From there he went on to study political science at Amherst College, USA. He is also reputed to be a shrewd businessman, having long played a central role in the vast family business empire.
[edit] Political life
His initial entry into politics came through his election as the chairman of his hometown branch of the ruling party, Kanu, in 1997.This came with the tacit approval of President Moi. At the time, many saw the election as a calculated move to prepare Uhuru for bigger things.
In the general election held the same year, Uhuru contested the Gatundu parliamentary seat, once held by his father. It was assumed he would sail through. But that was not be: Uhuru lost to Moses Mwihia, a little-known Nairobi architect. After losing the election, Uhuru's friends say that he was extremely upset and that he vowed to quit politics altogether.
He hurriedly retreated to the family business empire that includes five-star tourist hotels, airlines and commercial farming. Little did Uhuru know that President Moi was still intent on propelling him onto the national political scene.
In 1999 Moi appointed Uhuru the new chairman of the Kenya Tourism Board, where he worked with Kenya's political power-broker Nicholas Biwott, a very close confidante of the president. Apparently the young Uhuru was undergoing even more intensive training. Then came October 2001 and Uhuru was nominated to parliament and subsequently to the cabinet. In March of this year Uhuru Kenyatta made it big on the national political scene when he was elected as one of the four national vice-chairmen of Kanu.
The former President Moi paid a heavy price for ensuring Kenyatta is Kanu's presidential candidate, with several senior party figures, their own ambitions thwarted, resigning to set up another party(The liberal Democratic Party).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for president in the elections of December 27, 2002. Although Kenyatta's party, KANU, had been in power for all of Kenya's 39 years of independence, he was soundly defeated by the opposition leader Mwai Kibaki, taking only 31% of the vote against 62% for Kibaki. Many attributed his defeat to his association with the retiring president Daniel arap Moi, whose long rule was widely regarded as hopelessly corrupt and ineffectual. He was also seen to be lacking experience and his campaign team lacked the big names, most of whom had left KANU to join the opposition NARC. Despite losing the presidential elections, Uhuru Kenyatta won an MP seat at the Gatundu south constituency.
Since he joined Moi's inner circle, Uhuru Kenyatta has been fighting a not-too-successful battle to prove that he is his own man and not Moi's stooge. In late January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622 [1].
Uhuru led his party Kanu in Campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party to form the Orange Democratic Movement. This saw Kenyans humiliate the government by rejecting the draft constitution by a noticiable margin.
He is expected to run again for the presidency in the December 2007 elections.
# posted by MKUKI @ 11:50 PM 
