Cord leader Raila Odinga has written to President Uhuru Kenyatta, assuring him that he is not interested in grabbing power.
Mr Odinga said he had accepted the results of the General Election and that he was ready to play his role in the opposition.
Addressing
President Kenyatta as “my brother”, Mr Odinga was categorical that he
neither held a grudge over the way he lost in the last elections nor
would he use the clamour for dialogue to seek a position in government.
He
said Cord’s intention was to use the national dialogue to debate and
find solutions to the avalanche of problems he warned “may tear the
country apart if not immediately addressed”.
The former
Prime Minister also assured the Head of State of his support in the war
against terror and criminal gangs, which he said had taken an upper
hand in parts of the country, leading to the killing of 65 people in
Mpeketoni, Lamu.
“I want to assure your Excellency that
we hold no grudges nor do we want to interfere with your tenure and
that of the Jubilee administration as the President and the Government
of the Republic of Kenya,” he said in the letter dated June 20.
He
said he and other Cord leaders have been holding peaceful rallies as a
way of engaging the people in an open and public discourse “on how we
can make Kenya great and prosperous; a free nation, a people-liberated
and an independent country in the international community of nations”.
It
appears Mr Odinga’s move is intended to cool political temperatures
that have risen in recent days following his return three weeks ago from
a three-week stay in the United States.
The letter
comes in the wake of growing tension in the country, triggered by terror
and criminal attacks on the one hand and a heightened political mood
arising from the clamour for national dialogue.
POLITICAL REASONS
While
Cord has insisted that it is the only way to end the current “crisis”,
Jubilee MPs have argued that the opposition was using the push for the
conference for political reasons — to acquire power outside the ballot.
President
Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto have argued that some of the
issues that Cord wants discussed can be resolved through Parliament and
warned that while they hold forte at State House, they were open to
talking over “a cup of tea” with their rivals.
But Mr
Odinga argued the issues at hand were beyond the floor of the House,
requiring both sides of the political divide and other stakeholders to
resolve in a “structured” way.
“We have a
constitutional mandate as the opposition in Parliament and as a
coalition of political parties. However, the problems and challenges
facing the country cannot all be addressed as an exercise of law-making
or oversight. Nor can they be resolved on the basis of the classical
interplay between the three arms of government,” he said.
Quoting
Isaiah 1:18, he said great leaders in the world who chose the path of
national dialogue in times of crisis emerged victorious.
But
in Friday’s letter, he repeated that there were five critical issues
afflicting the country and which needed to be discussed to guarantee
Kenya’s security and prosperity.
“I seek no office or
reward. So I offer the hand of peace and an olive branch so that we may
dwell in unity, peace and liberty and in happiness and prosperity,” said
Mr Odinga in the letter.
The five points Mr Odinga
wants discussed are inclusivity and national unity, devolution,
corruption, the electoral process and national security.
He
enumerated the incidents that have called into question the state of
the country’s national security, among them the attacks in Mpeketoni,
Likoni, Diani, Mwembe Tayari, Thika Road and Gikomba in which more than
100 people had been killed.
“To deal with this sequel
of terror and its fatal and devastating effects, the nation must sit and
dialogue together and in unison combat terror and other invasions to
our peace, prosperity and the rule of law,” he said.
He called for the withdrawal of the Kenya Defence Forces from Somalia.
The
Cord leader said corruption had manifested itself in the payment of
Sh1.4 billion for Anglo Leasing type contracts and questions surrounding
the standard gauge railway line and the laptops project for primary
schools. “Major questions are being raised about the probity and
accountability of several pork-barrel and ‘sweetheart’ deals in the
energy, oil, mining and agricultural sectors,” he said.
On
the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, he said: “It is
not my wish to contest the results of the presidential elections held in
2013. Rather, I want the power and might of the ballot exercised and
cast in freely contested democratic elections.”
There
was a mixed reaction to Mr Odinga’s overtures from President Kenyatta’s
allies, with Starehe MP Maina Kamanda saying the move would help cool
tension in the country.
“That’s all he (Mr Odinga) was
required to do. It shouldn’t have taken him rallies to ask the President
to sit down and talk. I know the President will discuss the issues with
him,” said Mr Kamanda.
However, Prof Kithure Kindiki
and Mr Aden Duale, majority leaders of the Senate and the National
Assembly respectively, said there was no reason for dialogue.
They
said what Mr Odinga was asking for was addressed competently in the
Legislature “where Cord is well-represented, and by constitutional
bodies”.
“The government does not work under the
supervision of Mr Odinga. Jubilee is charged with the mandate to govern,
while Cord is charged with the opposition duty,” they said in a joint
statement.
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