Cord suspends rallies until Supreme Court rules on petitions

Cord's Raila Odinga acknowledges cheers from Changamwe residents before he addressed supporters at Kwa Hola March 18, 2013. Cord has suspended all 'political activity' until the Supreme Court rules on the presidential election petitions March 21, 2013. FILE

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) has suspended all 'political activity' until the Supreme Court rules on the presidential election petitions.

Cord's Raila Odinga appealed to his supporters to "remain calm and respect the rule of law".

"Prime Minister Raila Odinga has not planned any rallies in any part of the country in the coming days, including this weekend. The idea of such rallies had been discussed, but was dropped altogether mid yesterday (Wednesday), after wider consultations," said Mr Odinga's spokesman Dennis Onyango in a statement.

"Mr Odinga and the CORD leadership agreed to suspend all political activity for the duration of the hearing of the election petition in the Supreme Court," Mr Onyango said.

The PM told Cord supporters and Kenyans to "pray for justice and the strengthening of democracy in the country".

"Mr Odinga also appeals to his supporters to respect and have faith in the Judiciary as the Supreme Court prepares to hear his election petition."

On Wednesday, the National Security and Advisory Committee (NSAC) said political parties should not hold public rallies arguing that such meetings are unwarranted and could trigger animosity.

Initially, Cord had planned a series of rallies in western Kenya on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, Mr Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka Kalonzo and Bungoma Senator-elect Moses Wetangula were slated to be in Kakamega. On Sunday, the team had planned to be in Kisumu.

The NSAC meeting upheld a directive by Inspector General David Kimaiyo that banned mass action, demonstrations and political gatherings.

"Indeed, such meetings could obsolete gains made from the peaceful conduct of elections which demonstrated to the world that Kenya’s democracy had matured and investors were already releasing investment capital," said Head of Public service Francis Kimemia in a statement.

The security committee urged politicians to allow the Supreme Court to arbitrate on the petition challenging the results of the presidential elections.

"Court process should be left to those authorised into courts. Any attempts to disrupt, discredit or intimidate the Courts, IEBC or other institutions of the State will not be tolerated," said Mr Kimemia.

Further, the security committee supported "the ruling of the Chief Justice that matters in the petition should not be politicised or commented upon by political leaders as this is sub-judice and contemptuous to the Court."

It said no crowds will be allowed to gather around the premises of the Supreme Court during hearings of the petition.

"Government took issue with idle, noisy mobs congregating outside Supreme Court of Kenya and KICC buildings and had become a public nuisance, was disrupting Court processes and business operations around the general area.

"This will be disallowed since strategic buildings were under security surveillance and such mobs are a security threat and should be advised to disperse with immediate effect," the statement said.

The committee also directed the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and Security agencies to act on "those propagating hate speech and violence in the social media".