President Uhuru Kenyatta has received a major boost in his re-election bid after Tanzania’s Chademna Party pledged to back his bid, Daily Nation reports.
Chadema which loosely translates to Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Party for Democracy and Progress) is vocal on anti-corruption matters.
Its Chairman Freeman Mbowe said that they have pledged to back Uhuru since he has made a tremendous effort in preserving Kenya’s democracy.
Also, said the Chair, they will support Uhuru and not NASA’s Raila Odinga as he “dismayed” him for supporting Tanzania’s President John Pombe Magufuli last year when he was vying for the seat.
“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,” Mbowe told a Council meeting in Tanzania over the weekend.
He said Uhuru has expanded Kenya’s democratic space which makes him a good leader adding, “Opposition leaders in Kenya haven’t been jailed.”
Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Minister Augustine Mahiga had earlier on dismissed claims that his country was angling to support a certain Presidential aspirant in Kenya.
The report drew a storm in Parliament Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale sensationally claimed that Raila Odinga was setting up a parallel tallying center in Tanzania to help him rig the polls.