Nasa leaders Raila Odinga (right), Kalonzo Musyoka at Okoa Kenya offices
in Nairobi on September 22, 2017. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA
GROUP
It emerged on
Monday that lobbying, spearheaded by the US, UK and Germany and the
clergy is not aimed at the ultimate formation of a government of
national unity, an idea repulsive to the Jubilee Party.
DIPLOMATS
Diplomatic
sources revealed that they were yet to propose any particular roles for
Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka — who claim to have won the August 8, 2017
elections — in the talks they have so far held with them.
“There
are no particular roles suggested for Raila and Kalonzo. An agreement
on their future should be spearheaded by Kenyans themselves,” said the
source.
On Monday, Mr Odinga confirmed that the
diplomats, who he met alone on Friday at his Capitol Hill office in
Upper Hill, Nairobi, with his co-principals Mr Musyoka (Wiper), Mr
Musalia Mudavadi (ANC) and Moses Wetang’ula (Ford-K), have not suggested
any position for him in the current set-up.
Instead, he said US ambassador Robert Godec was pushing for talks between the two political sides over electoral reforms.
“They
have not gone to the details of what it should be. They only talk of
bringing on board more stakeholders. But I have stated that they are
interfering in what is basically a Kenyan affair which should be left to
Kenyans to solve,” he said on the telephone.
DIALOGUE
Last
week, Mr Godec said the US is not particularly pushing for any rewards
or position for politicians but dialogue that will bring all Kenyans on
board.
“The US continues to be committed to a national
conversation involving all Kenyans to build national unity, address
long-standing issues and resolve divisions exacerbated by 2017
elections,” he said in a statement.
Earlier, some
allies of Mr Odinga claimed that the US was pushing to have Mr Odinga
elevated to a statesman as part of efforts to end the political
standoff. The plan, they claimed, was to elevate the position to that of
hierarchy of the ... State, complete with the trappings of state power.
The
US wants the position to come with an office, a motorcade, staff and a
commensurate package that will allow Mr Odinga to travel the world
promoting Kenya’s image and giving talks on democracy, one of them told
the Nation.
The allies said part of the
package would be a retirement deal commensurate with Mr Odinga’s long
career in the public service and a further promise to support his push
for reforms.
REJECTED
However,
the former prime minister is said to have rejected the proposals,
saying they do not represent the interests of Kenyans yearning for
electoral justice.
A source in Nasa said Mr Odinga also
rejected the proposal because it does not take care of the interests of
the larger Nasa family.
“Assuming I accept, what will I
do with my colleagues in Nasa?” Mr Odinga is reported to have asked the
ambassador when the proposal was made.
On Monday, Mr
Odinga who is walking through a tricky path with his plans to be sworn
in as the people’s president told the diplomats to keep off.
“They
cannot come to tell us who should be this and that. We are talking
about a stolen election and our aim is reforms to bring about electoral
justice. We have never talked anything about that,” he said.
Nasa
leaders have set January 30 as the deadline for talks with Jubilee
party, failure to which Mr Odinga will be sworn in as the people’s
president and Mr Musyoka as his deputy.
ELECTORAL INJUSTICE
The
talks should revolve around electoral justice, reorganisation of the
country’s governance structure, particularly the Executive and the
Legislature, strengthening the Judiciary and devolution and security
reforms.
The US is opposed to illegal actions by
politicians but has pledged to support efforts towards dialogue. Though
it doesn’t say it openly, Washington may mean it is opposed to issues
demanded by Nasa to have elections repeated or the plan to swear in Mr
Odinga.
Another diplomatic source expressed concern
that the lobbying had not gathered momentum and that Jubilee had decided
to wait for Nasa’s enthusiasm to fizzle out.
“Both
sides have not made movement towards dialogue yet. Jubilee believes
demands for electoral reform can be addressed progressively … as
focusing on it now will slow down momentum of government to implement
its promises. Nasa wants principals to meet with Uhuru first and agree
on agenda … which must include electoral reforms,” said the source.
The
source said foreign diplomats were of the view that the opposition
coalition has been pushing itself into tight corners, citing the refusal
to take part in the repeat elections of October 26 last year. “Now
Jubilee believes there won’t be good faith from opposition even in
dialogue,” he said.
JUBILEE
Jubilee
secretary-general Raphael Tuju has dismissed calls for dialogue,
arguing that there is no legal framework nor a constitutional reference
for talks after one side in an election contest has been declared
victor. He argues that Nasa leaders are seeking relevance after they
lost.
“What is the legal basis or the constitutional
reference for these talks? There is none, and what these people are
trying is to be relevant after losing,” he said on the phone. He
wondered if Nasa would have invited Jubilee for talks had they won. “If
they had won the elections, would they have invited us for dialogue?”
He also accused foreign diplomats of trying to get President Kenyatta to hold talks with a rival he defeated.
In
the past two weeks, Mr Godec has met Nasa parliamentary leadership led
by Mr Wetang’ula, who is the senate minority leader and his counterpart
in the National Assembly,
Mr John Mbadi. He has also met the Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka and majority leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale.
Nasa
has refused to recognise Mr Kenyatta as the elected President, saying
he was a product of a flawed electoral process, which Mr Odinga and Mr
Musyoka boycotted, accusing the Independent Electoral and Boundaries
Commission of “stonewalling” deliberations to have a credible repeat
elections.
SOURCE
SOURCE
