Raila Odinga: I am ready to sit with President Uhuru to discuss country’s insecurity headache

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is ready to sit with President Uhuru Kenyatta and discuss way forward in handling runaway insecurity in the country.

In an interview with The Standard on Sunday yesterday, the CORD co-principal described the removal from office of Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku and Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo as a cosmetic approach in confronting insecurity.

During the interview on a wide ranging issues, the former PM also spoke on the ongoing Kibera slum upgrading project by the Government, raising concerns about the politics 'being spread' about what he did in the area when he was area MP.

Turning to the Security Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014, Raila said it should be withdrawn or suspended, arguing that it is an affront to the Constitution.

Raila‘s demands run contrary to the president‘s position that the Bill should be approved by Parliament as soon as possible to allow him put in place the necessary security measures.

Speaker Justin Muturi has already convened a special session of Parliament on Thursday to pass the Bill, which passed through the second reading before Parliament went on recess on Thursday night. Raila met the President at State House on Friday and proposed the need for a united approach in handling insecurity but now wants the security Bill taken to the Senate for debate because it heavily impacts on counties.

"It must be debated by the Senate otherwise it will be in breach of the Constitution. But we are now being told the Speaker of the National Assembly has been instructed that it must go through as soon as possible,“ he lamented.

Debate hurried

The hurried debate of the Bill will, however, not stop the Opposition from ensuring it is debated in the Senate and Minority Leader Moses Wetang'ula has been instructed to call a special sitting of the Senate to look into the Bill.

During his brief meeting with the President at State House, Raila said they informally discussed the insecurity agenda and agreed to chart a common approach to bring together all leaders in dealing with terrorist threats across the country.

“Leaders need to come together and find a way of mobilising all Kenyans to get maximum support in dealing with this serious challenge to our nationhood,“ said Raila. Striking a reconciliatory tone, the CORD leader said he hoped that the offer from him to the president will be facilitated so that the ruling coalition and the Opposition can contribute meaningfully in dealing with the problem.

The offer comes a day after the president called for support from all leaders to discuss the problem instead of issuing threats and calling for demonstrations, saying that would only benefit the enemy.

Speaking at Nyayo Stadium during the 51st Jamuhuri Day celebrations, the president told Kenyans to unite in helping to ensure security in the country and demanded that leaders discuss issues with mutual respect.

“Tujadiliane kwa heshima. Kama kuna shida sema na tutasaidiana. Tuwache mambo ya kupigana kama viongozi kwa sababu hiyo ndiyo adui wetu wanafurahia (Let us as leaders discuss with respect and stop fighting because that is what makes the enemy happy),“ he told the gathering at Nyayo Stadium.

Asked what should be done, Raila cautioned: “Moving amendments hurriedly in the House will not cure the anomalies in the Bill. They have either to withdraw or suspend it. That is the only civilised way of doing it.”

Kenyans’ sufferings

He reminded those pushing the Bill that Kenyans had suffered for many years as they fought against such draconian laws, which he argues are being brought back through the back door.

Reflecting on what could happen should the Bill be enacted into law, the former PM talked of a scenario where Kenya could be turned into a police State because people could find themselves asking for a permit from the chief to hold a party or get a permit from a district commissioner to have a rally.

„Many journalists went to prison while others escaped from the country to places like Dar es Salaam and America, while quite a number found themselves in the Nyayo House torture chambers and that is what is coming. They will create any kind of excuse to detain you,“ cautioned the former political detainee.

He poked holes in the Bill, and cited areas where it bans the publication of gory pictures which he said was nonsensical because all media outlets around the civilised world including BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera use them with a caution line that the pictures are either frightening or gory.

He expressed fear that the removal of Kimaiyo and the introduction of the Bill that gives the president sweeping powers to appoint and sack police chiefs would take the country back to the days when police commissioners were sacked for political reasons.

“It will be a game of musical chairs. We had Kiruki, Kilonzo, Abong‘o, Nyaseda, Ali, Iteere and many more, when other civilised countries had one or two and that is going to happen again. Each time something happens an IG will be fired,” said Raila.

He also called for devolution of security so that governors can take charge of the County Security Committee just like District Commissioners used to in the past.

Raila has proposed that full security and police reforms as envisaged in the Serena Accord be put in place instead of attempting to take the country into the dark past.

He regrets that although the country started implementing some of those reforms, they have since stalled.
„We still have a security regime which is out of tune with the changes that Kenyans fought for and that is a major worry,“ said Raila.

The other challenges that he wants addressed include inefficiency, lack of motivation, corruption, ethnicity and nepotism in the police service, which he argues are some of the of the main causes of failures in the system.
“It does not matter how much draconian powers you give the police, because it will have no effect on the security situation in the country apart from inconveniencing, hurting and oppressing Kenyans,“ Raila cautioned.

He asks those seeking the change of law to remember how much work was put into it at the Bomas of Kenya Constitutional Conference where it was discussed at length.

“We looked at all the best practices worldwide and so we have the best legal framework but the problem is reforms,“ said Raila.

On the appointment of Kajiado Central MP Joseph Nkaissery as Lenku‘s replacement, Raila proposed that had ODM, on whose ticket he ran for elections, been requested for his services, they could have recommended that he be appointed CS for Defence, because being a General, that is where he was best suited.

He however demanded that the party be allowed to take back its seat unopposed “because they have poached our MP”.

He recounted how the president protested loudly when president Kibaki appointed Kanu MPs, among them John Koech and Paul Sang, to be ministers when Uhuru was the leader of the Opposition.

“They even went to court to challenge that decision. What has changed now and yet at the time they could have retained their positions as MPs as they served in the Cabinet? asked Raila.

Turning to the Kibera project, Raila reads politics in the whole exercise, saying the Uhuru administration is only continuing with a process that he started when he was Minister for Roads and Housing.

“I was in the Opposition for a big part of that period but we used CDF funds to construct toilets and many other projects in Kibera,“ said Raila.

He however regretted that the road project, which was funded by Treasury when he was Minister for Roads stalled because the Ministry of Finance headed by Uhuru Kenyatta at the time, did not release the money he had requested.

The road is now being completed by the National Youth Service under the stewardship of the Ministry of Devolution but Raila wonders why it was moved from its parent ministry.

Matters money

“We did not have the kind of money they are pouring there now. The good thing is that the people will benefit from that money at last. We were using contractors and now they are using NYS, that is the difference,“ he said.

The road was constructed from Mbagathi to a bridge in the slums when the ministry ran out of money but Raila thinks the funds were denied because the project would have made him more popular.

“I started the Kenya Slums Upgrading Programme when I was minister for Roads and Housing when we teamed up with UNEP to improve the quality of life in Kibera to address shelter, poverty, unemployment, health and education,” said Raila.

He wants Kenyans to know that when the construction of houses was going on, purported landowners moved to court and stopped the process for two years but they later managed to move some people to some houses that were completed.

He regrets that the houses they constructed for Kibera residents have not been occupied and that communal land for the Nubian community in Kibera has not been allocated to them as promised.

During the Jamhuri Day celebrations on Friday, a documentary eloquently voiced by Mwalimu John Sibi-Okumu was played to show the developments being done by the Jubilee administration in Kibera.

And speaking about the Homa Bay Senatorial by-election, Raila described as “utter rubbish claims that he has a preferred candidate”.

He assured the electorate that the ODM Elections Board was dealing with the nomination process, adding that those creating the rumours could be those fighting to present their own list of delegates.