Raila allies claim US ambassador undermining bipartisan talks over remarks on 2022 Election
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Raila allies hit out at US ambassador Meg Whitman following her remarks that Kenya's 2022 elections were credible
Raila allies hit out at US ambassador Meg Whitman following her remarks that Kenya’s 2022 elections were credible.
A section of Azimio legislators allied to opposition leader Raila Odinga has faulted US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman for claiming that the 2022 presidential election was free and fair.
The legislators, led by Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga, expressed outrage at the envoy’s comments, claiming that they were disrespectful and that Kenya’s electoral process is fundamentally defective.
During a press conference, Senator Moses Kajwang of Homa Bay emphasized that the Ambassador’s remarks are detrimental to the ongoing bipartisan negotiations intended to put an end to the political dispute between Azimio and Kenya Kwanza.
“The discussions are premised on three things that she (Ambassador Whitman) spoke about in a very insensitive manner. One was on electoral justice, two was on the Finance Act 2023 and three is on corruption,” Kajwang affirmed.
“Azimio team that has gone for the negotiations has instructions that those 3 issues should be on the table and I know that once both houses of Parliament pass the relevant motions, the next step will be to agree and frame the agenda items. We would not wish our foreign friends and foreign partners to get involved in domestic conversations,” he added.
Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga maintained that it is insensitive for the US Ambassador to talk about Kenyan democracy especially now when the two main political formations are disagreeing on pertinent issues.
“I think it is too insensitive for the US Ambassador to talk about democracy in Kenya when this regime has actually delegitimatized cries of the Kenyan people to demonstrate, to picket, and to assemble.
“This is a right that is enshrined in the constitution and it is even borrowed from the American constitution and I really felt hurt when the US Ambassador is dancing and praising democracy in Kenya when such rights are being criminalized,” Oburu charged.
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At the same press conference, Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua asked foreign powers to avoid immersing themselves in Kenyan politics.
“We expect our foreign friends and especially the US to be sensitive, mature and to avoid making comments that are likely to erode the little trust that we are building for the sake of our motherland,” the legislator quipped.
Rarieda Member of Parliament, Otiende Amollo also unleashed a scathing attack on the US envoy whom he accused of promoting economic gains for her country at the expense of tenets of democracy.
“For her, it is all about business, and not democracy. Business is all that matters to them,” the Rarieda Member of Parliament claimed in a statement.
Azimio lawmakers also wondered why President William Ruto asked the audience at the ongoing 8th Devolution Conference to offer Whitman a standing ovation after making her remarks on Wednesday, August 16.
The criticism follows US Ambassador Meg Whitman remarks that Kenya in 2022 conducted credible, transparent, and verifiable elections.
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