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Uhuru described Mutava as a selfless leader for stepping down in his favour. FILE.

Kenya

Mutava pulls out of Presidential race in favour of Uhuru

Uhuru described Mutava as a selfless leader for stepping down in his favour. FILE.

NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 12 – Gachoka MP Mutava Musyimi has now abandoned his presidential bid and will instead support Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.

Musyimi who made the announcement at The National Alliance aspirants’ forum, said he intends to defend his Gachoka parliamentary seat on Kenyatta’s TNA party ticket.

Uhuru said he was impressed by Musyimi’s decision to stand down, describing him as “a selfless leader.” “TNA is a party of leaders.”

Musyimi made his debut to Parliament in the 2007 elections on a PNU ticket, but the alliance has also pulled out of the forthcoming elections.

He has been very vocal about his presidential bid and hoped to get a nomination from the Democratic Party before he de-camped to TNA where he had vowed to battle it out with Kenyatta for a presidential nomination.

He had a website and Twitter handle dedicated to pushing his presidential drive in addition to a Face book account.

Mutava becomes the first aspiring President to withdraw his candidacy from the ever growing list of interested aspirants.

The Deputy Premier has been seeking to form an all inclusive alliance with several other leaders, including Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North MP William Ruto, who remain firmly in the race for State House.

Several other politicians have also decamped from their parties to support the Deputy Premier who hit out on former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for announcing that Kenya risks isolation if either him or Eldoret North MP William Ruto are elected President because of the crimes against humanity charges they are facing at The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).

“I am not seeking the top job in America, Britain or Germany,” Uhuru said, adding “I am seeking the Presidency of Kenya in a democratic manner.”

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He also said that he was not seeking Kenya’s top job “by force.”

“If Kenyans elect me I will serve;  if they don’t I will go home to farm,” he said.

He has pledged to work harmoniously with other leaders in the region and Africa if he is elected President.

Annan announced Thursday that Kenya was likely to be isolated if Uhuru or Ruto are elected President of Kenya because they have cases in The Hague.

Both leaders are campaigning to take over from President Mwai Kibaki who is not seeking re-election in the March 4 polls.

Uhuru and Ruto are accused of either funding or organizing the post election violence of 2008 which led to the killing of at least 1300 people and displacement of more than half a million others. They have both maintained their innocence.

“I haven’t heard Kenyans or leaders in the region or Africa say they won’t work with me if I am elected. We welcome others, but if they don’t want, well and good,” he said.

If elected President, Uhuru said he will fight insecurity by creating employment opportunities for the youth to ensure they get a source of livelihood while remaining occupied at all times

“Killing criminals will not resolve insecurity in this country,” he said.

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