Raila Odinga gives conditions to cancel Uhuru Park rally

Opposition leader Raila Odinga (right) with Senator Moses Wetang’ula takes a selfie with Kenya Private Sector Alliance officials yesterday in Nairobi. [PHOTO: BONIFACE OKENDO/STANDARD]

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) yesterday held a meeting with the Opposition over tomorrow’s planned Uhuru Park rally.

Kepsa wanted to convince the Opposition to shelve the rally and instead, join President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nakuru where he will be leading Madaraka Day celebrations.

But in response, the Opposition led by CORD leader Raila Odinga challenged President Kenyatta to meet ‘certain conditions’ for them to cancel their Uhuru Park parallel rally.

Raila said this even as he moved to clarify that the Opposition was not intending to hold a parallel function to that of Uhuru.

The Opposition chief said the ruling Jubilee coalition had not responded to CORD’s olive branch in ending the ongoing political animosity between the two coalitions.

He confirmed CORD would resume its weekly protests against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) should Jubilee fail to respond positively within the set deadline. Raila was accompanied by CORD co-principal Moses Wetang’ula and Senators Anyang’ Nyong’o and James Orengo.

WISH CONDITIONAL

“We have told them (Kepsa) that their wish is subject to certain conditions. So they know the terms and they have said they are going to come back to us (after meeting Jubilee),” said Raila.

He went on: “But I clarified yesterday (Monday) that there was some misunderstanding about our plan to go to Uhuru Park. We are not intending to hold a parallel function to that of the President.”

The Opposition leader said they intended to use the meeting to reflect on the direction the country was taking in light of the ongoing political standoff over IEBC.

CORD, which last week suspended its weekly protests temporarily to give room for dialogue, accused the Jubilee coalition of always brushing aside its calls for dialogue.

Raila said the Opposition started appealing to Uhuru and his deputy, William Ruto, for a national dialogue to address some of the issues affecting the country.

He said it is Jubilee’s failure to engage them in a structured manner that had pushed them to the streets to demand for reforms at the IEBC, as well as, to address other issues of national concern.

“We have not received response from Jubilee and that is the reason we are talking here. We are here and we are still waiting. Today is Monday, there is one week left,” he said.