Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki weighed into pre-election bickering and manoeuvring on Monday with harsh words for "cheap" politicians putting party squabbles ahead of national development, according to Reuters. "We have more important work serving Kenyans and there is no room for cheap politics," Kibaki said in a speech in Nairobi. With a presidential poll expected at the end of 2007, Kenyan political circles are polarising into two camps -- one around the 75-year-old president, the other around an opposition coalition called the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya (ODM-K). But it is not yet clear which parties will back Kibaki for re-election. And ODM-K contains a clutch of high-profile politicians who have individual ambitions to lead east Africa's largest economy and one of its most peaceful states. The political temperature has risen in recent weeks, with main opposition party the Kenya African National Union (KANU) -- undergoing a messy leadership battle over its role in ODM-K. Some have accused Kibaki of stirring the divisions, and police tear-gassed KANU leaders at a protest last week. Issues like Kenya's worst floods in decades, and impending war in neighbouring Somalia, have barely figured on front pages, as local media help whip up the political talk. "We cannot be going round politicking and featuring in the media all the time and still purport to be working hard to improve the lives of Kenyans," said Kibaki, who himself shot into the headlines last week for a 168 percent pay rise. "People should concentrate on managing their own party politics and should not drag my name or the government into their affairs," he added at the opening of a market. "Kenyans must be wary of those who spend too much time peddling lies." The Kenyan leader, who likes to project an image of staying above national politics, is favourite in most polls to win re-election. But if ODM-K maintains unity round a single candidate, analysts say they might beat him. One of the leading ODM-K members -- former foreign minister and lawyer Kalonzo Musyoka, who commands wide grass-roots popularity -- formally launched his presidential bid on Monday. "Fellow Kenyans, I will offer you leadership based on respect, equality, accountability and personal integrity," Musyoka said during a pomp-laden ceremony in Nairobi. Musyoka, who is one of the least scandal-tainted figures in Kenyan politics, will face off against other ODM-K leaders in internal elections before the national poll. His main rival is Raila Odinga, a former minister whom Kibaki sacked after he campaigned against the government in a 2005 referendum that dealt the president a humiliating defeat. Polls put Odinga third in the popularity stakes, behind Kibaki and Musyoka.
