Kaparo dared to arrest Raila following incitement claims

ODM has dared the national cohesion team to arrest its leader, Mr Raila Odinga, over claims of incitement.

Party national chairman John Mbadi and Homa Bay Town MP Peter Opondo Kaluma on Tuesday accused National Cohesion and Integration Commission boss Francis ole Kaparo of playing politics.

“Kaparo should know the consequences of such actions. If he wants to bring a problem to this country, I dare him to touch the Cord leader,” said Mr Mbadi.

Mr Odinga is among prominent politicians who include Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago being investigated for incitement, according to Mr Kaparo.

The cohesion team boss on Monday said the commission will not be intimidated by politicians and warned that stern action will be taken if they incite Kenyans.

Mr Mbadi, who was speaking at a rally in Tonga in his constituency, said Mr Kaparo wanted to attract attention as his commission was no longer relevant.

“We want to see him take action against Mr Mandago, whose utterances bordered on ethnic cleansing,” the Suba MP said.

His Homa Bay counterpart, Mr Kaluma, told Nation on the phone that Parliament made a mistake by choosing the chairman of a political party to head the cohesion commission.

“Kaparo misled the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee during vetting when he vowed never to engage in politics,” said Mr Kaluma.

He said Mr Kaparo still saw himself as chairman of the United Republican Party and by extension, Jubilee.

“We are seriously considering his suitability for this office and if he continues like this, we will request the Jubilee government to move him to another department,” he said.

At the same time, Mr Odinga on Tuesday demanded that new voter identification devices be used in next year’s General Election. He said this will prevent rigging.

Speaking in Migori County, Mr Odinga said Cord would not allow rigging to deny Kenyans their preferred leaders.

“The ongoing electoral reforms are not for nothing … we want new devices that will be hard to tamper with,” he said in Uriri sub-county during a meeting with Kuria elders.

UNDERMINING DEVOLUTION

“The runaway corruption cannot be tolerated for another five years. People running the Jubilee administration opposed the new Constitution and cannot be trusted to implement it fully. They are already undermining devolution through the piecemeal release of funds,” Mr Odinga said.

The cord co-principal said Jubilee had “lost direction and were only feeding Kenyans with propaganda everyday”.

 Public resources, he argued, were being stolen under the watch of the Government and they did nothing to stop graft.

 Mr Odinga reiterated that attempts to remove from office, the Auditor General Edward Ouko will be met “by full force of mass demonstrations”.

 At Masaba in Kuria West, MPs Junet Mohammed and Gladys Wanga told the chairman of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission Chairman, Mr Francis Kaparo, to keep off Mr Odinga.

 They dismissed him as an old man “being recycled and misused by the Jubilee operatives”.

They said Mr Odinga cannot be intimidated by people “who should be at home looking after their cattle”.

Mr Odinga is being investigated by the commission over  hate speech allegations. Mr Kaparo had said the commission will not be intimidated by politicians, regardless of rank and warned that stern action will be taken against them irrespective of their status if they incite Kenyans.

SELECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS

Also facing investigation is Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago, who had earlier accused the commission of selective investigations after it summoned him over his opposition to the appointment of Prof Laban Ayiro to take over as acting Moi University Vice Chancellor.

Mr Mandago had asked why the commission had not taken action against Mr Odinga, yet it was summoning leaders from other political parties.

“Whether Raila has a case to answer or not, each will carry his cross,” Mr Kaparo said of the two politicians. “Both of them are under investigation and once we have enough evidence we will take the necessary action.”

Mr Odinga assured the smaller communities living in Migori County that they will not be marginalised.

The former PM visit to Migori occurred at a time when a power – sharing arrangement hitch between communities living in the county portends a potential political conflict ahead of the next year’s elections, if not handled carefully.

The dominant Luo community leaders feel that all the seats should be filled competitively, a move the Kuria community is rejecting due to their weak voting power.

Migori County has over 300,000 registered voters but the Kuria commands less than 100,000 votes.

 In the last elections, the Kuria got Senator, Deputy Governor and Women Representative positions following the intervention of Mr Odinga in a bid to secure his presidential votes.

 But the move became unpopular after the elections, with Luos feeling short-changed their neighbours because both Mr Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta nearly got equal number of votes. 

On Tuesday, the Kuria elders vowed to back Mr Odinga’s presidential bid.