The 12th general election is barely eight months
away and the atmosphere of transition – whether Uhuru is reelected or not – is
palpable nationwide. President Uhuru Kenyatta and Cord leader Raila Odinga's separate speeches on the occasion of the 53rd Jamhuri Day had references to 2017.
Raila issued a statement on Jamhuri Day
Eve in which he spoke of a wind of democratic change that is sweeping Africa,
particularly the former Coup Belt of Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia, where
presidential incumbents have been removed in elections.
Uhuru made a call for unity in diversity and invoked the
Independence generation of his father Jomo Kenyatta and Raila’s father Jaramogi
Odinga.
Among other things he said,
“The founding generation would remind us that whoever steals from the common
purse is not just a thief, but an enemy of our unity”.
The President did not use the words, but this was an unmistakable reference to the corruption scourge that has overtaken Kenya on Jubilee's watch.
