Referendum: CORD's motives suspect

CORD's recent demands for dialogue with the Jubilee Coalition, which has since morphed into demands for a referendum raises critical questions on the way political opponents of Government should hold it accountable in a new dispensation. There can be no doubt that as an opposition party, CORD must use all the arrows in its quiver not only to keep Government on its toes, but also sustain a profile that enables it to be a credible contestant in the next elections. To meet these twin objectives any opposition, worth its name, will use its parliamentary presence including its chairmanship of critical committees like the Public Accounts Committee to achieve its objects, but will also exploit public political processes it considers necessary to raise its political profile.

However, while using all possible avenues is legitimate, none of the available options can be a substitute for the other. CORD's role as an effective official opposition cannot be delegated to its public activism role, and neither can it achieve all its political objectives solely through the parliamentary process. Anyone who asks CORD to resolve its entire gripe with Jubilee solely through the Parliamentary process is being disingenuous. CORD is not just a parliamentary opposition; it is also a contestant in elections 2017! What one expects, however, is that CORD would use both the parliamentary and public avenues to achieve its goals! What has surprised many watchers of Kenya's political environment is how inept CORD has been on the use of available institutional infrastructure. Even in institutions like the Senate where the tyranny of numbers is not as decimating as that in the National Assembly, one doesn't sense the same energy and vigour by Senators Wetang'ula, Orengo, Muthama, Hassan Omar, Otieno Kajwang, and Professor Anyang Nyongo in pursuing the "official opposition" role that you see in their "political rally activism".