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Mombasa, January 04, 2007

First Lady Mrs. Lucy Kibaki is shown the construction site for the Multipurpose hall for young girls who are to be role models in purity and chastity by ACK Mombasa Diocese Bishop Julius Kalu at ACK Memorial Cathedral, Mombasa .

First Lady urges Kenyans to vote wisely in the general elections

First Lady Lucy Kibaki has expressed confidence that Kenyans are now politically mature and will vote wisely in the forthcoming general elections.

Speaking at the ACK Memorial Cathedral Mombasa where she inspected the ongoing construction of a Multipurpose Hall in aid of the Girls Friendly Society of the Mombasa diocese, the First Lady said politicians who have been engaging in endless politicking at the expense of development have no chance of being re-elected.

In this regard, the First Lady once again urged wananchi to vote back leaders who are development-conscious and shun those who neglected them while they were in office.

Saying President Kibaki's development record speaks for itself, the First Lady appealed to Kenyans to vote him back so that he can complete the programs that he has initiated, adding that the constitution allows the sitting President to go for two five-year terms.

She said although there are already over eight people who have expressed their interest to vie for the presidency, wananchi should judge presidential candidates on the basis of their development records and not on empty words.

"If one is unable to manage the affairs of a constituency, how can they manage a whole country. Let us vote leaders on the basis of what they have done to improve the lives of Kenyans and not empty politics," the First Lady said.

The First Lady pointed out that some politicians have been in parliament for over 20 years and yet they have not helped the electorate in any way, adding that such people should not be allowed to waste public resources again.

She added that there are many qualified Kenyans who have been waiting for this opportunity and therefore asked Kenyans to reject those who have not shown interest in serving electorate.

"Why should you continue electing the same person every time when elections are called and yet there are many well educated and visionary Kenyans who could serve you better?" the First Lady said.

The First Lady said the current Government has helped in opening up the democratic space and proved that good leadership and prudent management of public resources can improve the lives of wananchi.

On caring for children from disadvantaged background, the First Lady urged Kenyans to treat every child as their own saying it is through that kind of attitude that the country can be able to discourage social evils facing young children.

Thanking the Church for coming up with programmes of training young children on how to live in purity, the First Lady said the responsibility of religion is to ensure that children know their creator at an early stage of their life.

The First Lady challenged women to come up with more projects and initiatives which will enable the girl-child lead an upright life, saying it is the duty of women to bring up a God fearing generation.

She urged parents to play their role effectively to ensure their children do not fall into the trap of deviant behaviour including drug abuse among other vices.

The First Lady said if parents took their parental responsibilities and counseled their children well, they would help in curbing the increase of HIV/Aids infection among the youth.

Speaking during the occasion, Bishop Julius Kalu of the Mombasa ACK Diocese urged Christians to pray for the country during this year of election.

Present were Coast Provincial Commissioner Ernest Munyi and the ACK Mombasa Diocese clergy among others.