Tribalism rife in jobs offer: Raila Odinga

Cord leaders on Saturday pitched their calls for a referendum in Nairobi and accused the government of tribalism in public appointments.

The leaders said they have already collected 800,000 signatures in their quest for a referendum whose victory, they added, would herald Cord leader Raila Odinga’s entry to State House.

The leaders asked the majority Somalis to support their bid for the vote and presented the signature collecting material.

Mr Odinga said at Garissa Lodge area in Nairobi’s Eastleigh: “Jubilee has apportioned plum positions to selected communities and sidelined others.”

He said 10 per cent of all public appointments should be set aside for small ethnic groups.

Mr Odinga also claimed Sh15 billion of public money was stolen to facilitate Jubilee campaigns in the last General Election.

The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly chaired by MP Ababu Namwamba is investigating the loss.

Mr Odinga was especially critical of Deputy President William Ruto in his speech. Mr Ruto was not in government at the time the money is alleged to have been stolen.

LAND ISSUE

On security, the former PM said the government had resorted to harassing and detaining Somalis especially from Eastleigh on allegations that they were involved in terrorism.

He said the coalition was determined to send home officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and also ensure the issue of land was solved through the vote.

Suna East MP Junet Mohammed reiterated that the coalition would collect five million signatures.

The constitution requires that for a referendum initiative to take off, it must be supported by at least one million registered voters.

The referendum issues would then be taken to the electoral commission for fine-tuning and then sent to all 47 county assemblies for a vote.

Should at least 24 counties support it, it is taken to the National Assembly and Senate. If either House rejects the question(s), it is then subjected to a vote.

Present were Senators Johnstone Muthama and James Orengo, as well as former Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim.

Mr Orengo said Cord would not be cowed by the government in its push for the referendum.

“You must ensure that you give your signatures because, once we win in the referendum, that will herald Mr Odinga’s entry into State House.”

His sentiments were echoed by Senator Muthama.