Raila says no to dialogue in Parliament, accuses Jubilee of plot to curtail talks

CORD leader Raila Odinga flanked by ODM leaders from Nyamira addresses a crowd at Nyamaiya stadium in Nyamira county on June 10,2016. Raila was in the county in bid to strengthen ODM party in the Gusii region ahead of the next general election. (Photo: Denish Ochieng/ Standard)

Another round of street protests loom large after CORD leader Raila Odinga maintained that the Opposition will not accept dialogue over electoral reforms through a parliamentary process.

Raila fell short of declaring the planned dialogue was heading into turbulence when he accused the Jubilee coalition of insincerity.

Speaking at Nyamaiha and Nyamira County Assembly grounds yesterday, Raila said Jubilee wanted to ride on the parliamentary majority it enjoys to suppress the opposition’s demands.

“We are saying if mediation to break the IEBC stalemate is to be pursued, we must include all stakeholders including the civil society, trade unions and religious organisations,” he said.

As he spoke in Nyamira, the CORD secretariat notified the police of planned demonstrations on Monday and Thursday next week.

Raila said the opposition was ready to promote justice, peace and equality by involving all key players in the proposed minimum electoral reforms.

He said CORD will also demand total reforms in the National Police Service to help deal with the brutality by law enforcers as witnessed during the anti-IEBC street demonstrations.

The former PM tore into Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, saying he was re-introducing impunity within the police service.

“We will not tolerate police impunity. The Jubilee Government has failed to perfect police reforms which we initiated during the Kibaki regime and that is why we want institutional reforms in the police service and the electoral agency,” he said.

Talks in House

Raila said the Jubilee government’s push for parliamentary-driven reforms shows it is not serious in resolving the IEBC stalemate.

ODM chairman John Mbadi said they had tried several times to use Parliament to address the institutional problems but their efforts were thwarted by the Jubilee side which has more numbers in both houses of Parliament.

“We have tried to reason with Jubilee in Parliament for the last four years in vain. How can we trust them again with a parliamentary select committee?” asked the ODM chairman.

“We agreed to name five representatives each to jump start the dialogue and they named 11, meaning, even if we went to vote on the contentious issues, they will be still be ahead,” he said.

Raila vowed to push for institutional reforms to rid the country of mismanagement, which he said was to blame for the “sluggish economy”.

Other CORD leaders at the meeting blamed the high cost of living in the country on the failure by the government to respond to the problem affecting the masses.

“What is the rationale of increasing taxes on basic consumer goods? This move will trigger high inflation,” Governor John Nyagarama said.

Raila asked President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto to redirect their harambee contributions to bridge the budget deficit, which he said was too big for the country to fill.

He claimed the government was trying to raise campaign money for the 2017 elections by raising taxes to meet the “exorbitant” Sh2.3 trillion budget.

The deficit, he claimed, had pushed the country into heavy domestic and international borrowing oblivious of future ramifications on the economy.

Raila was accompanied by MPs Timothy Bosire (Kitutu Masaba), Charles Geni (North Mugirango), Dr James Gesami (West Mugirango), Tom Kajwang (Ruaraka) and Silvance Osele (Kapul Kasibondo) who called for equitable distribution of national resources.

Raila had earlier addressed ODM delegates at a Nyamira hotel where he told them to help rally the Abagusii community to support CORD.  He also cautioned those aspiring for positions in the next elections to respect sitting leaders.

His visit to the region is seen by political commentators as a strategy to counter a similar visit by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to the county in April.