Mohammed Dida addresses the media after conceding defeat/FELIX MAGARA
Mohammed Abduba Dida isn’t the sort of man who restricts himself to a prepared statement.
Rather, he is the sort of man who speaks off the cuff and it is perhaps this irreverence that won him 52,848 votes in the just concluded General Election.
The former secondary school teacher came in fifth in the presidential race despite being little known before the February 11 presidential debate, trouncing former Minister of Justice Martha Karua and Education Permanent Secretary James ole Kiyiapi.
“We were eight. So many people wanted to marry this wonderful and beautiful lady, Kenya. Each person wanted to show… don’t marry the other person because they have these weaknesses.”
“Despite what we said, the lady went for Uhuru and I am happy this lady will come back again. I don’t know whether she will be divorced or she works only for five years,” Dida finally said having written a few notes on paper.
The rest of his statement continued in the same unconventional, no-holds-barred style Kenyans have come to associate him with as he claimed there were some incidents of voter bribery preceding the March 4 General Election but that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had generally executed their mandate well.
“I’m not saying they did it perfectly but I am saying they did it in a better way than the way it was done in 2007 and we appreciate. You know when we move from one step and we move to a second step in a positive way we appreciate that. Those ladies and gentlemen did not sleep and if they did, it was on the table.”
He added that he had presented evidence of electoral malpractices to the IEBC, European Union and East African Community observers who assured him they would look into his voter bribery claims.
The Alliance for Real Change party leader lauded the IEBC for making Kenyans aware of the problems they were experiencing with the electronic transmission of result from polling stations and expressed confidence in Chief Justice Willy Mutunga’s ability to give a fair ruling on any election petition filed on the basis of the failure.
Before exiting the press conference which he called to formally conceded defeat to President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta, Dida revealed that he will continue giving lessons on matters faith as he awaits another opportunity to make Kenya his fourth wife: “I am a champion and I can beat them the next time round.”
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