Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition Raila Odinga
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- This is what he would tell his supporters. I have a lot of faith in the apex court and I know the judges will give us justice. In our petitions, we have listed strong grounds on how this election was rigged and the players who were involved in ‘stealing our victory’.
- As Azimio, we will accept the final judgment. We hope our competitors will also do the same. But as it turned out, Raila’s case was just a hot-air as it lacked sufficient evidence and hence did not meet the thresholds outlined in the constitution. As a result, the judges unanimously dismissed his petition and upheld Ruto’s victory.
I have lately been listening to the remarks and statements attributed to the leader of the Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition Raila Odinga. He believes that the country has been going in the wrong direction since President William Ruto took over the reign of power about three months ago.
As an opposition leader, I have no problem because that is his job. I’m happy to note President Ruto is also sharing the same views. My government believes in the tenets of democracy, constitutionalism and rule of law. For these virtues to take root, we need a strong, robust and vibrant opposition.
Dr Ruto would, however, advice Kenyans to learn to discern the opposition that means well and the one that is hell-bent on destroying the social fabric of our nation. If we go wrong, we are ready to be corrected but the opposition ought to engage us in a structured and constructive dialogue and talks.
At this juncture, allow me to focus on Raila’s latest call for mass action. He has raised two concerns. Do they constitute serious violations of the constitution to an extent of claiming that Dr Ruto is taking the country to the dark days of president Moi’s dictatorship? I doubt.
Again he has not exhausted all the channels of the dialogue. Therefore, it was too early for him to organize mass actions/street demonstrations and call upon his supporters to turn in large numbers when he blew the whistle.
Though camouflaged to mean he was out to liberate them from Dr Ruto’s ‘excesses’, Raila strategy was mainly intended to achieve one main goal; settle political scores with President Ruto because he was yet to accept that he lost the election to him. How long will Raila take to accept defeat and move on?
We remember that when IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati declared Ruto as the President-elect, Raila immediately rejected the outcome and moved to the Supreme Court to challenge the final presidential result.
This is what he would tell his supporters. I have a lot of faith in the apex court and I know the judges will give us justice. In our petitions, we have listed strong grounds on how this election was rigged and the players who were involved in ‘stealing our victory’.
As Azimio, we will accept the final judgment. We hope our competitors will also do the same. But as it turned out, Raila’s case was just a hot-air as it lacked sufficient evidence and hence did not meet the thresholds outlined in the constitution. As a result, the judges unanimously dismissed his petition and upheld Ruto’s victory.
We know that Raila’s latest bitterness emanates from this loss and hence not taking kindly the ongoing proceedings against the four IEBC commissioners. He still believes that these commissioners were the true heroes and heroine at the Bomas of Kenya because their actions resonated with his political wishes.
Allegedly, when it dawned on them their efforts would not bore any fruits, they were left with only one option. That is to walk out of the Bomas of Kenya at the tail-end of tallying and verification of the results. At a press conference they addressed a few minutes later, the four distanced themselves from the result that Chebukati used to declare Ruto as the President.
In his petition, Raila cited this as one of the main grounds in pushing for nullification of Ruto’s victory.
For the four petitioners, the actions of the commissioners amounted to subversion of the democratic and constitutional will of the Kenyan people. Majority had already voted in support of Ruto. If had their way, they could have plunged our country into anarchy.
The petitions had been filed before National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee [JLAC]. The hearings have since been concluded and JLAC recommended to President Ruto to form a tribunal to further probe the allegations. The decision of the 7-member tribunal which has already set up will be final.
Azimio leader wants Kenyans to believe that both JLAC and Dr Ruto violated the constitution and other laws.
I disagree. Article 251 of the constitution stipulates the steps to be taken in handling petitions seeking removal of commissioner from office. So, this is what has been guiding this process since it started.
Raila has also attributed the high cost of life to President Ruto’s ‘poor leadership’. These claims again do not hold any water. We know Ruto took over at a time when drought was ravaging our country and more than 4.2 million Kenyans were facing starvation.
To mitigate this, he has made significant progress. So, the critics should give him time to do his work.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political commentator based in Nairobi
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