Raila: Jubilee working with military to rig August polls

NASA Leaders Raila Odinga (left) and Kalonzo Musyoka in Emali township, Makueni County on 20th June ,2017 ( PICTURE BY DENNIS KAVISU)

Opposition leader Raila Odinga talked of a plot by Jubilee leaders and some top military commanders to rig the elections.

Raila claimed a series of meetings by commanders of the military formations had been held in Naivasha.

Raila said training of some military men, Administration Police officers, county commanders and regional coordinators, as well as recruitment of 120 military officers from each barrack and unit was going on.

He claimed the training decision was arrived at following meetings by the commanders under the chairmanship of former Chief of General Staff Julius Karangi to help President Uhuru Kenyatta retain power after the August 8 General Election if he loses.

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

But in a quick response, the 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.

NORMAL DEPLOYMENT

The ministry's spokesperson Mwenda Njoka said the disciplined forces were not engaged in any way in the polls but were engaged in 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 is no chaos during the elections and in the event we have such incidents, they are contained immediately," explained Mr Njoka.

He added: "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 Claims on Mr Karangi are also not true because he is no longer active in the military since his retirement," he added.

The ministry said the security apparatus had to do what was expected of it in ensuring there is safety in the country. But in his press conference at Capitol Hill offices, Raila said what was going on was a scheme similar to one that had been used in the contested 2007 General Election.

"The training is currently underway at Embakasi barracks. There is resemblance with what was done at the same venue in the lead-up to the 2007 General Election in which APs were later dispersed as election officials and poll agents for the Party of National Unity," said Raila, who was accompanied by NASA co-principal, Musalia Mudavadi.

NASA further insisted they would not allow Dubai firm Al Ghurair to print ballot papers, alleging a plot to print excess ballot papers.

He claimed in 2013 two million extra ballot papers were printed and handed over to then Director of Intelligence Maj-Gen Michael Gichangi for stuffing. He said it was after the transmission server rejected the stuffed papers that they crushed it, resulting in delays to announce the presidential results.