Don't threaten to prosecute Raila over violence claims, ODM MPs tell Uhuru
ODM leader Raila Odinga addressing his supporters at Maili Tatu in Igembe Central, Meru County, on January 26, 2017. MPs allied to him have told President Uhuru Kenyatta to respect him. PHOTO | AGNES ABOO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
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The MPs said the President should differentiate between the orders he can issue as the Head of State and the political statements he makes as Jubilee Party’s leader and presidential candidate.
In addition, Busia Woman Representative Florence Mutua said to avert chaos in the August 8 polls the President and all relevant authorities should ensure the activity is conducted cleanly.
Opposition MPs have criticised President Uhuru Kenyatta for threatening to have Cord leader Raila Odinga prosecuted for his remarks on the August elections.
The MPs also took issue with the references to Mr Odinga by the President Kenyatta as “kimundu”, a Kikuyu word referring to a spiteful person, and by the Deputy President as “mganga” a Swahili word for a medicine man.
The MPs said the President should differentiate between the orders he can issue as the Head of State and the political statements he makes as Jubilee Party’s leader and presidential candidate.
Citing the long history of the struggle for basic freedoms in Kenya, the legislators led by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, said they will soldier on.
“We, therefore, wish to remind President Kenyatta to stop threatening Kenyans with arrests and detention for demanding that the upcoming elections be free, fair, transparent and credible.
"We stand with the Opposition leadership that the country deserves only that and will accept nothing less,” they said in a press statement at Parliament.
'CRYBABY FOR PRESIDENT'
Mr Wandayi was accompanied by 10 colleagues.
Further, he described President Kenyatta as “the greatest threat to the unity and stability of our nation” by attacking Mr Odinga in his addresses made during his voter mobilisation campaigns across the country.
“Never has this country had such a tribal bigot and a crybaby for a president as we have in President Uhuru Kenyatta today,” the Ugunja MP said.
President Kenyatta on Wednesday accused the Cord and ODM leader of fomenting election violence by claiming that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) is being used to register non-citizens — Ugandans and Ethiopians — as voters.
NIS URGED TO RESPOND
Reacting to Mr Kenyatta's comments, the MPs said NIS Director-General Phillip Kameru should respond to Mr Odinga's claims because the matter is crucial.
In addition, Busia Woman Representative Florence Mutua said that to avert chaos in the August 8 polls the President and all relevant authorities should ensure the elections are conducted properly.
“With credible elections, we’ll automatically have peace. They should stop going round talking of peace. They need to reassure Kenyans that elections will be credible and there will be peace,” Ms Mutua said.
She told the government to focus on dealing with the effects of the drought in various parts of the country and get doctors to end their strike.
