Jubilee legislators accuse Raila of plotting Hague cases
What you need to know:
- The 15 Jubilee MPs said Mr Odinga’s admission that the ICC should have locked up President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto over the 2007/8 post-election violence showed he had always wanted them jailed.
- Mr Duale said by reviving the ICC matter, Mr Odinga was planning another cycle of violence.
- Mr Odinga also criticised President Kenyatta’s plans to have Kenya withdraw from the Rome Statute and the court.
Jubilee lawmakers on Wednesday said Cord leader Raila Odinga had admitted he was behind President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto’s cases at The Hague.
The 15 MPs said Mr Odinga’s admission that the International Criminal Court should have locked up President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto over the 2007/8 post-election violence showed he had always wanted them jailed.
“We have known all along that Mr Odinga was behind the ICC cases and now he has confirmed it. He was working with foreign masters to have them jailed,” National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said.
Mr Duale said by reviving the ICC matter, Mr Odinga was planning another cycle of violence. He said discrediting the electoral commission like he did in 2007 was setting the stage for a disputed election to force a power-sharing deal.
“If Raila feels he cannot beat Uhuru in 2017 and Ruto in 2022, he should hang up his boots because we will not accept a nusu mkate (power sharing) deal again,” he said.
The MPs were addressing a press conference in Nairobi on Wednesday in reaction to Mr Odinga’s comments on Tuesday.
The opposition leader, who was speaking at Kasarani Gymnasium during the Wiper National Delegates Conference, cited the cases of former Cote d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo and former DR Congo politician Jean Pierre Bemba who were placed in custody by the international court while their cases were in progress.
WITHDRAW FRON ROME STATUTE
Mr Odinga also criticised President Kenyatta’s plans to have Kenya withdraw from the Rome Statute and the court.
Mr Odinga said withdrawal would lead to impunity and that the opposition would fight the withdrawal.
However, Mr Duale said it was only Parliament or Cabinet which could make that decision and that the opposition leader had no say in the matter.
“As representatives of the people, Parliament has the mandate to decide whether the proposal by the President is in the best interests of Kenyans. The other body that can do so is the Cabinet. Mr Odinga, as an ordinary citizen, has no say in the matter,” he said.
Parliament has voted twice on the matter and is likely to review Kenya’s membership following President Kenyatta’s latest statement.
The jubilee leader also alleged Mr Raila’s Cord coalition had received Sh10 billion from “foreign donors” to “influence the outcome of the next elections and take over power by whatever means.”
Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen said Mr Odinga had “fixed” Mr Ruto at the ICC at a time when he was the ODM deputy party Leader, saying the Cord leader could “betray anyone” to active his personal goals. He cautioned his co-principals in Cord, saying their leader could turn against them despite “how close they were” if he felt it served his interests.
