Raila Odinga: Cord has nothing to do with massacre

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has dissociated Cord from the Mpeketoni attacks.

Mr Odinga also dismissed claims by a section of Jubilee leaders that he is planning to overthrow the government.

“Our timetable was planned a long time ago and I have nothing to do with Al-Shabaab who said they were behind the terror attack,” he said.

He urged the government not to trivialise the issue and instead face the fact that the security situation in the country was deteriorating.

Addressing journalists at Swahili Beach Hotel in Diani, Mombasa, Mr Odinga said calling for dialogue did not mean wanting to overthrow the government.

He noted that all Cord wants is to discuss matters affecting ordinary Kenyans and find solutions.

Cord leaders in his company consoled families bereaved after the Mpeketoni massacre, adding that their meeting at the coast on Sunday did not have anything to do with it.

ANTI-RAILA DEMOS

Mr Odinga spoke as Jubilee leaders in Nairobi said they will hold demonstrations against him.

The politicians said they would counter Cord rallies from Thursday and warned Mr Odinga against utterances they claimed were causing tension in the country.

Former Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu, Senator Beth Mugo, city MPs and more than 40 TNA ward representatives said the demonstration will be peaceful and culminate at Kamukunji grounds.

In a hurriedly convened crisis meeting at a city hotel, MPs Dennis Waweru (Dagoretti South), John Ndirangu (Embakasi Central) and Francis Munyua (Juja) said they would counter Cord’s propaganda that is meant to portray the government as a failure.

“Our message is peace. The opposition should know we have the numbers to counter any ill thing they are planning,” Mr Waweru said.

As the meeting went on, hundreds of youths jammed Ngong Road near Dagoretti Corner and lit fires. They chanted anti-Odinga slogans, saying, they would face off with their Cord counterparts in the streets.