People Team @PeopleDailyKe
Details have emerged showing that some big wigs in the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy may have quietly sabotaged the Okoa Kenya drive that sought a referendum on key amendments to the Constitution.
Cord co-principal and Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula did not sign the Okoa Kenya referendum signature booklets, the People Daily can authoritatively reveal. According to 217 booklets the Opposition coalition presented to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for verification last year, Wetang’ula’s name tops a long list of Cord MPs and Governors who did not append their signatures, raising the question whether internal forces partly bungled the Opposition bid to change the law.
Cord leader Raila Odinga and Wiper Democratic Movement party leader Kalonzo Musyoka signed against their names in the voluminous signature books. However, of Cord’s 24 governors, only four signed, which is evident from booklets lying at the IEBC 15th Floor store in Anniversary Towers.
From the records, only nine Senators, one Women’s Representative and just 24 out of 119 Cord Members of National Assembly signed up. Curiously, some of those who have been at the forefront of piling pressure on IEBC for allegedly stalling the Okoa Kenya move, did not sign.
Among Cord governors, only Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir), Alfred Mutua (Machakos), Joseph Nanok (Turkana) and Patrick Khaemba (Trans Nzoia) affixed their signatures. Senators Hassan Omar (Mombasa), Abdirahman Hassan (Wajir), David Musila (Kitui), Amos Wako (Busia), James Orengo (Siaya), Mutula Kilonzo (Makueni), Moses Kajwang’ (Homa Bay), Wilfred Machage (Migori) and Kennedy Okong’o (Kisii) were the only Cord senators who signed.
Vocal Cord leaders such as Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, Johnstone Muthama, Ababu Namwamba, Hassan Joho, Wycliffe Oparanya, Evans Kidero, Amason Kingi, Jack Ranguma, Cornel Rasanga, Boni Khalwale and Elizabeth Ongoro are conspicuously missing from the list of the signatories.
A key Cord official privy to the signature details said this could point to possible internal sabotage of the Okoa Kenya initiative, which was from the start clouded in serious internal revolt across the coalition rank and file. But another official at the Okoa Kenya secretariat said: “I admit there were minor disagreements over the popular initiative among Cord members but I want to state clearly that IEBC also played a major role in bungling the referendum.
They could not dismiss our initiative on the account of ‘funny’ signatures when they admit not having a specimen to compare with.” The initiative, according to coalition sources, was slowed down by frequent in fighting between the secretariat and politicians which later led to a number of legislators taking a back seat and leaving everything in the hands of the hired experts.
The secretariat, responsible for contracting signature collection agents and hiring data entry and verification clerks, is said to have lost control of crucial stages, making the whole initiative vulnerable to irregularities and even external manipulation. “Truth be told.
Okoa Kenya initiative experts were a disaster par excellence. Everything they touched turned black,” Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior posted on Twitter after IEBC dismissed the initiative on account of insufficient signatures. Said another secretariat official: “Most agents lacked facilitation, including offices and financial support to push the drive.
As a result, many were literally compromised and signature booklets were tampered with before they were submitted.” “It is a pity that in the entire Siaya county, only Orengo (Siaya senator James Orengo) and Ugenya MP David Ochieng’ signed the booklets.
The rest, including area governor (Cornel Rasanga) did not sign,” said a secretariat official who requested anonymity. “These are public documents and any members of the public can walk into the IEBC offices and ask for the booklets.
The findings will shock you,” said the official. Our sources said the leaders failed to append their signatures to the final document despite having been funded and provided with booklets to mobilise support for the exercise.
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