Knocking out the lion's teeth

The opposition claims the youth vote but 75 year-old President Kibaki remains the favourite in next year's polls

Kenya's radically differing political styles were on show this week as respective presidential campaigns were launched. The opposition Orange Democratic Movement held an exuberant end-of-year rally on 9 December, mocking President Mwai Kibaki's government and its new allies. 'What he (Kibaki) has brought is not a lion,' ODM leader Raila Amolo Odinga shouted, referring to Kibaki's new alliance with former President Daniel arap Moi. 'We had knocked out the lion's teeth. That one is now toothless.' An opposition member for decades, Odinga is particularly proud that it was his strategy that defeated former President Moi's Kenya African National Union (KANU) in the 2002 elections.

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