Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has warned Mt Kenya politicians against fuelling violence and ethnic divisions, urging leaders across the political divide to embrace peaceful competition as political tensions rise in the region.
Prof Kindiki said political disagreements should be settled through ideas and development agendas, not insults, goonism or attacks on opponents.
Speaking during public engagements at Kahaini town centre in Kandara and Kinyona shopping centre in Kigumo, Murang’a County, on Friday, he challenged government critics to join efforts to promote peaceful politics.
“Anyone creating disunity must be stopped. We don’t want tribal talk here,” he said.
“We cannot compromise on the unity of the nation. Those in politics must unite against the culture of violence.”
He said he was concerned by what he described as a departure from the region’s political traditions, where leaders competed fiercely without resorting to violence.
He cited the 1992 presidential contest between Kenneth Matiba and Mwai Kibaki, both from Mt Kenya, as an example of political rivalry that did not degenerate into violence.
“That should be the case even today,” he said, urging politicians to sell their policies and development records instead of mobilising young people to attack rivals.
“In this region, we create wealth, we don’t destroy wealth,” Prof Kindiki said.
He added that leaders had a responsibility to unite Kenyans and address the challenges facing their constituents rather than engage in divisive politics.
The Deputy President also renewed his campaign against illicit alcohol and drugs, warning that the government would take firm action against traders selling poisonous brews blamed for harming young people.
“Alcohol that leaves a young person lying in a ditch for two weeks is not alcohol; it is poison, and it is death,” he said.
Prof Kindiki said the government would not allow the sale of substances that destroy young people’s health and reproductive capacity.
On development, he assured residents that the government would complete the Kigumo section of the Mau Mau Roads Programme, covering Ikumbi, Karinga, Kinyona and Mairi.
The programme covers 225 kilometres in Murang’a County at a cost of KSh9 billion, he said, adding that funds had been secured and contractors paid to resume stalled works.
He also highlighted the KSh293 million Kinyona-Karinga Irrigation Project, expected to benefit 1,500 households and support irrigation on 750 acres.
The Deputy President said the government was pursuing additional investments in roads, electricity connectivity and agriculture to improve household incomes.
He urged leaders to focus on delivering these projects, warning that violence and political hostility would undermine development and national cohesion.
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