Raila salutes Uhuru for Diaspora ID issuance programme

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has commended the Jubilee administration for the ongoing issuance of Identity Cards to Kenyans living in the Diaspora.

Speaking at the St Stephen’s Church in Lowell Massachusetts Sunday, Mr Odinga said the move was encouraging as it heralds an anticipated comprehensive registration of all eligible Kenyans in preparation for the 2017 general elections.

“I think it is a good starting point so that they can also register as voters,” said Mr Odinga who is currently in the US on invitation of the African Presidential Centre at Boston University.

On Friday, acting Kenya’s ambassador to the US, Jean Kamau, announced that the embassy would begin renewing and issuing national IDs to Kenyans residing in US and Mexico on April 14th.

(SEE: Kenyans in the US to be issued with IDs: Embassy)

When the programme rolls out, the two countries will join the United Kingdom and South Africa where Kenyan Consular Missions are already issuing the documents to eligible Kenyan nationals.

Ms Kamau told the Nation that plans are underway to ensure the programme is gradually extended to other countries across the globe.

A week ago, Mr Odinga urged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to play its part in ensuring that Kenyans in the Diaspora participate in the coming elections.

GOOD AMBASSADOR

And in a tone described by those present as conciliatory, Mr Odinga told the Massachusetts congregation that he had a lengthy conversation with President Kenyatta before he left for the US tour.

“I called the president and he was surprised when I told him I would be away for two months. But I told him I would be a good ambassador for Kenya,” he said.

The ODM leader was applauded when he told the gathering that while outside Kenya, he has assumed the role of an eminent envoy for the country. “I don’t fight when I’m outside Kenya. I deal with some of these issues when I’m back home,” he said in apparent reference to recent media reports that the CORD Coalition would release “an explosive dossier on the 2013 presidential elections.” (READ: Cord’s ‘explosive’ poll dossier to be released)

The politician’s US visit has raised eyebrows especially among some Jubilee politicians and supporters, with some questioning the rationale of inviting him to an African Presidential Center yet he has never been a president.

But the head of the Centre defended Mr Odinga saying he (Odinga) was invited as a “statesman and a representative of the democratisation trend in Africa.”

Some Kenyans in the US have also said that the attacks on the former PM are unwarranted.

“Why do some people only read sinister motives in whatever Mr Odinga does? He deserves praise because he has been very civil when talking about Kenya in all his speeches so far,” said Moses Gichira, a Kenyan living in Boston.

During his address in Lowell, Mr Odinga called on Kenyans in the US to emulate the Jews in the Diaspora whom he said greatly support their motherland.

“So I challenge you, when mother Kenya makes a distress call, please answer just as the Jews in the Diaspora do when Israel calls,” he said.

The former PM is in the US on a two month discourse-cum-study tour which will see him deliver speeches and lectures in universities in the states of Massachusetts, Georgia, North Carolina, New York and District of Columbia.

He is also set to join Kenyan athletes during this year’s Boston Marathon accompanied by Oscar- Award-winning Kenyan actress, Lupita Nyong’o on April 21st.

First lady Margaret Kenyatta will also participate in participate in the April 13 marathon in London which will be part of her wider initiative to raise money that will be used to improve maternal healthcare in Kenya.

(READ: First Lady in Iten ahead of race)