Chadema supports Uhuru in Kenya’s August 8 polls

Dodoma. Chadema is backing President Uhuru Kenyatta in his bid for re-election.

That was said by Chadema Chairman Freeman Mbowe during the party’s council meeting here yesterday.

He said after an assessment, Chadema leaders and followers concluded that Mr Kenyatta was the right candidate for presidency and a better choice for democracy in Kenya.

He said Chadema was dismayed by Kenya’s opposition leader, Mr Raila Odinga, who supported Dr John Magufuli during his presidential campaigns in the 2015 General Election.

When Mr Mbowe asked the council members how they could they treat their friends’ enemies, they responded: “Also your enemy.” Then they broke into applause. “We supported Raila Odinga during the 2012 elections in Kenya but to our surprise, when it came to the 2015 polls in Tanzania, he supported the CCM candidate, Dr John Magufuli. Odinga is a traitor,’’ reiterated Mr Mbowe. He commended Mr Kenyatta for expanding democratic space during his term in office. “Opposition leaders in Kenya haven’t been jailed.”

Earlier this month, the ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga, refuted media reports that Tanzania was interfering with the Kenya elections in favour of a particular presidential candidate.

Kenya’s National Assembly Majority leader, Mr Aden Duale, alleged that the National Super Alliance, whose presidential candidate is Mr Odinga, was plotting to hack the National Electoral and Boundaries Commission system in the August 8 polls to rig. He claimed the opposition was setting up a tallying centre in Tanzania.