Raila explains why he chose to let go off his “poll victory”
Raila explains why he chose to let go off his “poll victory” without calling for a mass demonstration.
Raila Odinga poured his heart out to his presidential campaign team on Thursday night, explaining why he let go of his “poll triumph” without calling for mass demonstrations.
Azimio leader Raila Odinga says was compelled to accept President William Ruto’s contested victory due to the threat of death and bloodshed from post-election unrest and concern over ICC accusations.
Raila made the remarks at a dinner organized to thank Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition campaign teams at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi.
Also in attendance were Martha Karua, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Head of Azimio campaign Ndiritu Muriithi, former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, Jubilee vice-chairperson David Murathe, outgoing Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa attended the Thursday dinner.
Others were MPs Junet Mohammed (Majority Whip), Opiyo Wandayi (Majority Leader), Sabina Chege, and Emmanuel Wangwe.
While likening Kenya’s 2022 disputed polls similar to Ivory Coast in 2010, Raila explained his struggles to build a democratic Kenyan society and how his attempts to clinch the top job have flopped multiple times.
He described the split of the IEBC when four commissioners disowned poll results that were used to declare President Ruto’s win, as a rare occurrence that had the potential to tear apart the country.
In Ivory Coast, a member of the electoral commission stood up when the chair of the polls body was about to announce the results, grabbed the statement he was about to read, and tore it. This forced Youssouf Bakayoko, then chair of the electoral commission, to announce the results from a secret location.
“That member of the commission was acting on behalf of the then President who had lost the election. The chairman went to a secret location and announced the results then left the country in a quagmire. Close to one million lives were lost. I was appointed by the African Union to go and meditate in that conflict,” recalled Odinga. He claimed that he won the August 9 polls “by over 60 percent” but his victory was usurped through the help of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the seven Supreme Court judges.
His latest push to initiate reforms at the IEBC and the Judiciary, he said, was not borne out of poll loss bitterness but to ensure a democratic society “even after he is long gone”.
“We won the elections hands down. When history is written the facts will come out. They did not even get 50 percent,” said Raila.
“As a member of the Azimio coalition, you should walk tall and feel proud because you are a member of a big movement that won the 2022 election. We know what happened. Kenyans will get to know why we have an illegitimate regime in power. We will continue to illegitimate this regime because they usurped power,” he told his campaign team.
Raila added that the country had made several gains in strengthening independent institutions, but some of the gains have been rolled back by the same institutions that have resorted to undertaking unconstitutional decisions.
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