Cord leaders may skip Uhuru fete

   

PHOTO | FILE Prime Minister Raila Odinga (centre), Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka (left) and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula at the Bomas of Kenya after chairing Nairobi County Cord leaders’ forum. The three leaders are in South Africa for a rest.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By LUCAS BARASA lbarassa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Sunday, April 7  2013 at  23:30

 

Prime Minister Raila Odinga last evening asked his supporters to remain peaceful and to welcome incoming President Uhuru Kenyatta, who will be sworn in in Nairobi on Tuesday.

Calling for peace and calm ahead of the ceremony, Mr Odinga said the swearing-in ceremony should go ahead as planned and that Mr Kenyatta and his team given the opportunity to implement their plans for Kenya.

Mr Odinga and the top brass of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) are in South Africa and the message to supporters was delivered by his spokesman, Mr Dennis Onyango, who said a more comprehensive statement would be issued on Monday.

It is not clear whether Mr Odinga, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula will be back in Nairobi for President-elect Kenyatta’s inauguration ceremony.

The three, who are among dignitaries invited to the ceremony to be held at the Moi International Sports Complex, Kasarani, left the country on Saturday.

Mr Odinga’s statement was aimed at calming nerves on a day police said they had discovered plans to disrupt the ceremony at Kasarani and arrested four youths who were part of the scheme.

On Sunday, a source who accompanied the Cord leaders to South Africa said they were not keen on attending the inauguration ceremony.

“What they want is to have a rest, reflect and plan on their options for the future,” the source who asked not to be named as he has no mandate to speak on the leaders’ plans, said.

Alternative leadership

The source added that Mr Odinga, Mr Musyoka and Mr Wetang’ula were taking stock of the March 4 polls and that they were planning on how to stick together and provide alternative leadership to the country. “They want to provide alternative leadership to the Kenyatta administration in and outside Parliament,” the source stated.

He said the Cord leaders’ main plan was to anchor the alliance’s watchdog role on implementation of the Constitution and realisation of Vision 2030. He added that the Cord principals were keen on transforming the alliance into a formidable movement like Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi and South Africa’s African National Congress.

On Saturday, the PM’s spokesman Dennis Onyango confirmed that Mr Odinga was not in the country. Asked if the PM will be attending Mr Kenyatta’s inauguration ceremony, Mr Onyango said: “I don’t think so, as he is out of the country. I doubt if he will be back by then.”

He said Mr Odinga was in Johannesburg for a rest and to visit former President Nelson Mandela’s family.

The Jubilee team of Mr Kenyatta and deputy President-elect William Ruto defeated the Cord team by garnering 50.07 per cent against Cord’s 43 per cent of the votes. Mr Odinga disputed the results released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and took his case to the Supreme Court.

The court upheld the declaration by the electoral commission that Mr Kenyatta won the election in a free, fair and credible process.