Cord to wrap up signature drive
Nairobians append signatures for Okoa Kenya campaign near the Tom Mboya statue on Moi Avenue on August 31. Cord says the exercise will be closed in 30 days. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Cord leaders, headed by Mr Odinga, are pushing for the referendum to amend sections of the Constitution to address issues of insecurity, national unity and discrimination, devolution, cost of living and the electoral process.
- The former Prime Minister, explained that the three Cord principals had been out of the country, leading to little activity in the Okoa Kenya campaigns.
- “We are tallying now. There are two figures; those signatures out there that have been collected and the ones we have in the books. My figures are being tallied now and until it is over, we cannot give the figures,” he said by phone.
The Okoa Kenya campaign will conclude the collection of signatures and hand them to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in 30 days.
This came as Cord leader Raila Odinga said that the lull in the campaign for the referendum stemmed from the absence of the coalition’s principals, including himself, from the country in the last two weeks.
The campaign’s team of experts leader Paul Mwangi said they will be ready to submit the signatures, which he hinted will go beyond the one million threshold set by the Constitution, to trigger the IEBC to start preparing for the referendum.
He steered clear of the reports that the Cord-driven campaign had already collected two million votes, stating that his team was still tallying the figures from various centres.
“We are tallying now. There are two figures; those signatures out there that have been collected and the ones we have in the books. My figures are being tallied now and until it is over, we cannot give the figures,” he said by phone.
However, Mr Mwangi said there were clear indications that they are likely to go beyond the one million signatures and the exact figure would be known in 30 days.
“My estimated time, depending on the collection of signatures in the field, is 30 days. I am targeting to finish my tallying in 30 days. We are likely to have more than one million signatures,” he said.
INSECURITY
Cord leaders, headed by Mr Odinga, are pushing for the referendum to amend sections of the Constitution to address issues of insecurity, national unity and discrimination, devolution, cost of living and the electoral process.
Mr Odinga and his co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula have warded off opposition from President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, arguing that the issues at hand “cannot wait”.
They are required to collect one million signatures which have to be approved by the IEBC before it takes upon the remaining stages that will lead to the referendum.
Speaking on Thursday, a day after returning to the country, Mr Odinga reinforced Mr Mwangi’s position when he said they had already collected one million signatures with a high probability that the figure could rise.
The former Prime Minister, explained that the three Cord principals had been out of the country, leading to little activity in the Okoa Kenya campaigns.
He said that while he was away in the US and Mozambique, Mr Musyoka was in China while Mr Wetang’ula has been in Cameroon.
“There has been minimal activity because my co-principals have been out of the country.
Equally, council of governors chairman Isaac Ruto, spearheading the Pesa Mashinani drive, said they expect to collect more than one million signatures by end of November.
“The collection of signatures is going on well; we have half a million signature and we expect to finish the collection by end of November,” Mr Ruto said by phone.
