Nairobi — Looking weary and frail after an eight-hour flight, and a weeks hospital treatment in London, Kenyas main opposition presidential candidate, Mwai Kibaki, flew back to the capital Nairobi to a heros welcome on Saturday. Thousands of supporters of his National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) opposition alliance thronged the airport to give their leader an enthusiastic, joyful and colourful homecoming.
Dozens of riot police were deployed around the airport. But there were no reports of any violence and the security officers stood by, watching the celebrations and directing traffic and hordes of human beings.
With his left foot in plaster, wearing a neck brace and sitting uncomfortably in a wheelchair, an emotional Kibaki appeared moved by the massive show of support by Narc officials and potential voters. Hundreds gathered at dawn at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to prepare for Kibakis return, and swelled to thousands, dancing and singing and chanting party slogans and pro-Narc praise tunes. Thousands more lined the road leading from the airport to town.
Flashing Narcs trademark two finger salute, from the sunroof of his specially-adapted mini-van, Kibaki briefly addressed the crowds at the airport, before heading downtown in a long and noisy motorcade, which took three hours and stopped traffic on its 15km (10 mile) route to a massive rally in Uhuru Park.
Initial anxiety at seeing their leader in a motorized wheelchair and neck brace, more seriously injured than they had imagined, dissolved into jubilation at his safe return. "Kibaki is fit, well and good enough to be the president of this republic," one man told reporters. "We are very happy, he is as fit as a fiddle," echoed another woman supporter, with yet another saying: "Hell be okay, his brain is still intact."
But there were rumblings of discontent that the masses had not been properly informed about the true medical condition of their leader.
Kibaki, 71, survived a car crash on December 3, while campaigning outside Nairobi. But was injured when his vehicle swerved off the road and landed in a ditch, after the driver tried to avoid two vehicles involved in another accident. Two people died. Kibaki suffered a broken arm and dislocated ankle and was flown to Britain for additional medical care.
He thanked God that he and his running mate, Kijana Wamalwa, who was also hospitalized for gout while on mission in London, had made it home safely and urged his supporters to ensure peaceful and successful elections in Kenya. The two men flew back together on their national airline.
"I thank you all for your prayers which kept us going, while being treated in London. We pray to God; he is the only one who can show us the way and we are sure that he has shown us the way," said Kibaki. He told his supporters in Kiswahili, the lingua franca in Kenya: "Dont fear anything, God will help us win. We should not be disturbed. We shall overcome. God is with us."
Switching to English, when asked by allAfrica if he could successfully conduct the final stages of his election campaign from a wheelchair, Kibaki smiled ruefully and said he had already started, adding, "I am feeling very well".
The Narc candidate, tipped to win the election by political analysts and a recent opinion poll, served as a vice-president and finance minister under President Daniel arap Moi, before he fell out with his boss. Moi is stepping down after being in power for 24 years. The constitution bars him from seeking another term in office.
Kibaki is running against Uhuru Kenyatta, 42, the son of Kenyas founding president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, and the candidate of Mois governing Kenya African National Union (Kanu). Kenyatta is the outgoing presidents anointed successor, but has virtually no government experience. Observers say three other presidential hopefuls stand little chance.
Riding on a wave of public sympathy, to chants of "Rainbow, Rainbow," Kibaki spoke later at Uhuru Park. He repeated his call for calm elections, in contrast to the political violence witnessed in previous polls in 1992 and 1997. "In these elections, we will fight it out peacefully, we want peace. Nobody will benefit if there is no peace," he said.
Wamalwa told the crowd of tens of thousands, the contest for the presidency was a "one-horse race".
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Kibaki returned to his now familiar campaign pledges to end endemic corruption in Kenya and halt economic decline under almost half a century of Mois leadership.
An opposition election victory would be unprecedented in Kenya, which Kanu has governed since independence from Britain in 1963. Previous attempts to challenge Mois iron grip on power faltered because of a splintered opposition, which failed to agree on a single candidate. Kibaki is contesting the top job for the third time.
With his broad opposition coalition, he hopes to end Kanus supremacy. But critics say Kibaki, and other former senior members of Mois party who have recently defected to Narc in droves, belong to the old guard of Kenyan politics and must make way for a younger generation of leaders.
Kenyattas campaign message has emphasized his comparative youth and played down his inexperience, saying he will bring a freshness and new perspective to politics and leadership in his country.
