By Osinde obare
Kenya: CORD co-principals Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula have yet again accused the Jubilee government of frustrating the spirit of the new Constitution.
The CORD leaders pointed out rampant corruption and misappropriation of resources as some of the ills the Government is not fighting.
They said devolution is under siege and further accused the Jubilee leadership of intimidating the Judiciary.
Raila said the Jubilee government has no regard for the Judiciary, arguing that the country would have been thrown into strife had CORD failed to respect the verdict of the election petition.
“We did not accept the verdict of the judges who made the ruling on the election petition but we respected their decision, yet Jubilee has no respect for the Judiciary,” he said.
Speaking during the thanksgiving ceremony for Wetang’ula, who is the Bungoma senator and Ford Kenya party leader, Raila described the move to strip governors of some of their functions as unconstitutional and cheap politicking.
He urged MPs and senators from the CORD wing to oppose such moves, adding that the Government is involved in unimportant matters at the expense of the needs of Kenyans.
“We are behind governors and we urge MPs to reject such attempts,” he said.
Kalonzo termed shameful the Government’s decision to engage in unjustified wars with the governors instead of focusing its energies on serving Kenyans.
“It is an assault on the spirit of the Constitution and the expectations of Kenyans when the Government arm-twists governors in a bid to kill devolution,” he said.
He said CORD governors and MPs will soon meet to discuss and clear some contradictions among governors and the Senate.
Raila wondered why the Government was spending millions of shillings to purchase laptops when there is a serious shortage of teachers in both primary and secondary schools.
“Our youth are languishing in abject poverty yet elderly people are being given employment,” he said.
Kalonzo likened the Jubilee government to a deal in which two people plotted to benefit from public coffers.
He said corruption was rife in Government and was worsening poverty among Kenyans.
“Kenyans are suffering in abject poverty while a few individuals are growing their bank accounts with money from public coffers,” he said.
He said one year after the election was “rigged” by the Jubilee Alliance, Kenyans still have hope in CORD and pledged the coalition’s unity and readiness to take over power.
Wetang’ula said CORD would soldier on and urged elected leaders from the political divide to protect devolution jealously.
Raila asked CORD members in both the Senate and Parliament to push for more allocation of revenue to counties, arguing that it was wrong of the national government to control 85 per cent of the national budget.
