Opposition leader Raila Odinga yesterday vowed to challenge in court changes in law on the appointments to top Judiciary offices, police bosses and what he termed a move to weaken the Auditor General’s office.
Raila, while issuing a statement in a Nairobi hotel, accused the government of embarking on a systematic rolling back of the gains made over the years. “We shall fight the retrogressive laws in courts,” said Raila, as he reiterated his claim that the 2017 General Election would not be free and fair.
Accompanied by Senate Minority Leader Moses Wetang’ula and other Cord leaders, Raila said they would not allow the Jubilee administration to use its numbers to interfere with independent institutions and offices.
“As happened soon after independence, Jubilee is using its numbers in Parliament to give the President powers to appoint and dismiss the Inspector General of Police and the Chief Justice, against provisions of the Constitution,” he claimed.
“You took over an optimistic country whose main agenda was to implement our new constitutional dispensation, a Constitution that we have struggled for decades to achieve, so that we can secure peace, freedom and good governance,” he added in remark directed at President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Cord leader reiterated that the coalition will pursue accountability for and recovery of public funds he claimed had been lost through corrupt deals. He said the government was unable to account for the Eurobond proceeds for which, he claimed, Kenyans had already paid more than Sh25 billion in interest.
He also criticised involvement in fund-raising activities by political leaders, saying they were being used as a tool for control against express provisions of the Constitution that public officers shall not engage in harambees.
Wetang’ula said the Opposition is compiling a lifestyle audit of some top politicians and would call on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate them.
The opposition leaders also indicated they will not allow the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct another General Election due to what they termed “serious legitimacy deficit”.
Raila said they will vigorously pursue the Opposition’s Okoa Kenya referendum bid to seek full benefits from the supreme law. He appealed to Kenyans to demand that the Jubilee government accounts for taxes and money borrowed since it took over leadership. “We as Cord will do our part.
We will not sit and let the Jubilee administration undo all we have struggled for,” said Raila as he called on every Kenyan who has attained the age of 18 and who has not applied for a national identity card cards to get one urgently.
His statement comes as the two Jubilee leaders—President Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto—have been making targeted forays into Opposition strongholds, where several MPs have made indicates to defect to the ruling coalition.
The two sides are expected to lock in more head-on political confrontation as the penultimate year to the General Election seems to take off to high octane campaign energy.
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