Post date: Feb 25, 2013 11:44:36 PM
Kenya's presidential candidate and ICC suspect says during a televised presidential debate that Prime Minster Raila Odinga did nothing to deal with emotive land question when he was in charge of running government.
NAIROBI, KENYA (FEBRUARY 25, 2013) (MEDIA COUNCIL OF KENYA) - Kenya's second presidential debate turned into a sparring session on Monday (February 25) as the eight candidates were questioned over land reform and corruption ahead of elections next week.
The event failed to offer a clear-cut winner.The head-on rivalry between leading presidential contender, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta, exploded over the issue of land reform.
Uhuru accused Raila Odinga of inactivity over the emotive land issue despite being in power for five years.
"The honourable Prime Minister has mentioned that land is an issue, that we have this extensive tracks of land, half provinces, today my sister is talking about half the country. He has been in-charge of this government for the last five years as Prime Minister, the Minister of lands was appointed by him. To date there is nothing that they have put forward to prove those justifications," said Kenyatta during the debate.
Kenyatta was accused of owning huge tracks of land during the debate, but he denied the accusation, calling for evidence to be tabled and saying he has never been charged with taking land illegally.
Kenyatta, a former finance minister and the son of the country's founding president, is one of four accused at the International Criminal Court of orchestrating deadly tribal fighting after the last vote in 2007. Kenyatta has been summoned to appear at The Hague a month after the vote in April.
Odinga, who narrowly leads Kenyatta in opinion polls ahead of the closely-watched March 4 vote, said freedom fighters for independence had been betrayed despite making the biggest sacrifices for the country.
"In defence of my brother Uhuru Kenyatta, he was just an innocent inheritor he did not commit the original sin and I think the country should sympathise with him. But the issue is that there was betrayal of the freedom fighters the original freedom fighters during the struggle, those who sacrificed most were completely abandoned by the leadership that is the reason why this issue has remained a contentious issue for all this time," said Odinga.
Analysts who had billed the event as a showdown between Odinga and Kenyatta in the crowded field of eight candidates in all, said it was unlikely support for either of the candidates would shift significantly following the live debate.
Odinga, who kept on describing Kenyatta as a "brother", was also taken to task on land acquired by his family saying they acquired it legally.
Kenyatta's running mate, William Ruto, is also facing charges at the ICC for his alleged role in directing the violence at the last polls five years ago. Both deny wrongdoing.
Kenyans watched the anticipated televised debate in their homes and nearby bars.
Nairobi resident Victor Kinge said the debate failed to outline the real issues faced by Kenyans on a daily basis. Kinge, an architecture student said the debate had instead centred on scandals each candidate appears to be involved in.
"I think they raised... some of the issues were raised, but I think part of the problem with this- especially with this- phase of the debate was that, it was dealing a lot with you know personal scandals. Although I admit it was important with the general public to know what happened in each of those scandals, but they took a higher precedence to the real issues so by the end of the debate it felt like, you know, we just ended up learning a bit about the different each of them was involved in without really tackling the issues. At the end of the day there are more questions than answers," said Kinge.
After the last presidential vote in 2007, protests by supporters of then opposition leader Odinga erupted into widespread bloodletting after he disputed the result, which declared incumbent President Mwai Kibaki the victor.
The deadly fighting between the country's biggest tribes say more than 1,200 people being slaughtered, many butchered by machete, burnt alive or shot with bows and arrows.
Ethnic rivalries damaged the image of the East Africa's most powerful economy and a key ally in the U.S.-led war against militant Islam in the region.