CORD leader Raila Odinga to reveal abroad mission

NAIROBI, KENYA: Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader Raila Odinga will today give a statement on his mission abroad.

Mr Raila jetted back into the country Tuesday after weeks of international engagements which took him to Yale University in the US, the Republic of Mozambique and South Africa. His spokesman Dennis Onyango said the former premier arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 3pm Tuesday.

“The former premier has arrived in the country and he will address the media tomorrow (today) on his mission abroad in the US, Mozambique and South Africa as well as comment on local issues,” said Mr Onyango.

At Yale, Raila delivered a lecture centred on growth, challenges and opportunities in Africa since 2000 and beyond.

The lecture, titled Afro-Optimism: Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far? Discussed a period of time that stretched a decade from the dawn of this century to now and beyond.

However, most of its anecdotes were observations of nearly half a century of Africa’s independence.

Raila reminded the world that even as Africa rises, across the continent challenges remain unresolved, some of which date back to pre-independence and the first decade of independence in most African countries – the 60s and 70s.

He warned of “misleading” statistics of economic progress, noting that the gap between the poor and the rich continues to widen.

To an Economics Class at the institution, alongside former Mexico President Ernesto Zedillo, Raila facilitated a discussion titled ‘Building Democratic Institutions for Inclusive Economic and Social Transformation’.

In Mozambique, Raila was the lead electoral observer for the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa for the October 15 elections, which ended peacefully though a section of the opposition has disputed the results.

SOLVE PROBLEMS

As he returns, Raila is expected to revitalise the referendum campaign for Okoa Kenya which is on a slow pace as CORD continues to collect signatures.

Raila will also have to deal with the raging issues facing Makueni County whose Governor Kivutha Kibwana has been impeached by the county assembly.

Council of Governors chairman Isaac Ruto and other leaders have expressed concern over deep-seated issues bedevilling the county, saying impeachment will not solve those problems.