Opposition fury at Uhuru’s threat to order their arrest for incitement

Wiper Democratic Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka addresses the Press at the party headquarters. Opposition leaders claim Uhuru is intimidating them with threats of arrest. [Photo: David Njaaga/Standard]

The Opposition has reacted angrily to President Uhuru Kenyatta's threat to arrest their members for incitement.

Opposition leaders Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi, Moses Wetang'ula, James Orengo, Boni Khalwale and Wycliffe Oparanya accused Uhuru of using allegations of incitement to silence his critics.

During his tour of Embu County on Wednesday, Uhuru warned that the Government would take action against politicians who incite Kenyans to violence before, during and after August 8 elections.

The President was reacting to Raila's warning that attempts to influence the poll results would plunge the country into uncertainty.

However, the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) fraternity has come out to defend itself and accused the President of being averse to criticism. They claimed Uhuru was abusing his powers by undermining the independence of other state institutions.

They vowed to continue pointing out things that the Jubilee administration is not doing right and termed the Uhuru's sentiments as empty threats.

Kalonzo accused Uhuru of taking the country back to the days when government critics were jailed on trumped up charges.

The former Vice President claimed the Uhuru was panicking because majority of Kenyans know that he is not doing things right.

"If Uhuru wanted the best for Kenyans, the doctors' strike couldn't have gone on for almost two months. The university lecturer's strike is still on, yet he has bought police and other security gadgets worth billions. As Opposition, we must speak against this," he said.

Senator Wetangula described Uhuru's warning as a threat to freedom of speech.

"He (Uhuru) is out to criminalise free speech. As an incumbent, he does not expect us to praise him," he said.

Mudavadi who is also Amani National Congress (ANC) leader, defended Raila's comments and accused Uhuru of over-reacting to critics.

"He (Uhuru) is deliberately misreading criticism in order to demonise the Opposition. There is nothing in Raila's statement that threatens violence. He merely warned an increasingly panicked Jubilee not to plant seeds for violence to germinate," he said.

Senator Orengo said the Opposition will not be cowed by Uhuru's threats which he said were meant to intimidate and harass critics.

"We have learnt to live with such threats. This did not deter us from fighting for the second liberation, when Raila reveals corruption in the country, he is threatened with arrest and prosecution. There is nothing criminal with this," he said.

Senator Khalwale said threatening to arrest political opponents has no place in modern democracy.

His sentiments were supported by Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior who said Uhuru's warnings were not supported the law.

"Arrests can only be made after a due process of law. The President and his office don't have any mandate in this process," he said.

Deputy Party Leader and Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya challenged the government to investigate issues raised by Raila instead of issuing arrest threats.

"Let Uhuru use the right channels to investigate the matters we have raised instead of telling us to keep quiet," he said.

This comes as Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru dismissed claims that ICT will be used rig the polls.