Raila: Jubilee working with military commanders to rig elections

NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga (R) and Co-principal Musalia Mudavadi (Left) address press on Tuesday 20 June 2017. NASA claims Jubilee is dragging security apparatus into elections rigging plan. Photo by Edward Kiplimo.

NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga has talked of a plot by Jubilee and some top military commanders to rig the August elections.

Raila made the fresh rigging claims asserting that a series of meetings by commanders of the army formations had been held in Naivasha.

Raila said training of Kenya Defence Force, Administration Police officers, County Commanders and Regional Coordinators as well as recruitment of 120 military officers from each barrack and unit was going on following the meetings by the commanders under the chairmanship of former Chief of General Staff Julius Karangi to aid President Uhuru Kenyatta retain power after the August 8 General Election.

He claimed that several military officers were also currently being hosted in Kakamega at the former provincial premises and were being prepared for recruitment by the electoral commission as polling officers.

But in a quick response, Interior Ministry dismissed the claims, stating that the ongoing training at Embakasi military barracks and deployment of security officers was part of the country's contingency measures ahead of the elections.

The ministry's spokesperson Mwenda Njoka said the disciplined forces are not engaged in any way in the polls but was just putting normal preparations to ensure the country is safe before, during and after the polls.

"The ongoing training and deployment are part of security agencies' preparations for the elections. We are having training and deployments to areas where we suspect there could be problems. It is basically to ensure there are no chaos during the elections and in the event we have such incidents it is contained immediately," explained Mr Njoka.

“Our disciplined officers are professional and are not taking sides in the political contests. We have nothing to do with the work of IEBC. Claims on Karangi are also not true because he is no longer active in the military since his retirement," he added.