Ndonga: Raila, CORD absence from faith-based forum ill-advised

A three-day national dialogue conference convened by religious leaders was held a few days ago in Nairobi. Dubbed Pamoja National Conference, the deliberations at the meeting, which brought together more than 300 delegates, focused mainly on matters of peace, security and development.

Coming hot on the heels of the heightened political temperatures, the community and religious leaders called on political leaders to exercise restraint and avoid engaging in activities that could plunge the country into political turmoil.

In the same breath, they pleaded with Kenyans to be wary and shun leaders hell-bent on using extra-judicial and unconstitutional means to ostensibly address the myriad problems facing Kenyans.

Yes, just like any other incoming Government, the Jubilee administration is confronted with numerous challenges but so far it has rolled out a raft of interventions to address them.

Constitutionally, the Opposition is mandated to correct the Government where it goes wrong. In doing so, the leaders are not only supposed to criticise but, more importantly, to offer sound, practical and well thought out solutions.

Political mobilisation, mass action and popular uprisings are not provided for in the Constitution. So one would expect peace-loving Kenyans to avoid falling prey to these machinations being advocated by CORD.

It should be noted that when it comes to the sticky matters of public interest, there are institutions and instruments created to deliberate on and resolve the issues.

As is the case all over the world, Parliament and Senate are the key institutions and this is because the two houses are occupied by leaders elected by citizens.

Notably, the top echelons of Jubilee and CORD were invited to attend the inter-faith forum and make their presentations geared towards safeguarding and promoting peace and security, and ensuring that the country remained on the path to economic development.

But apart from President Uhuru Kenyatta and a section of Jubilee leaders, CORD gave the dialogue conference a wide berth. Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who the organisers said they had invited in person, was listed on the programme to make a keynote address. Instead, he travelled to Mombasa. Notably, the decision by CORD to snub the forum came at time when its leaders are pushing for the Government to convene a national dialogue conference to discuss the problems ailing the country and come up with solutions.

They have threatened that if this forum is not convened by latest Saba Saba (July 7), they will use mass action to force the Government’s hand.

Kenya is a country governed by the rule of law and has one of most progressive and democratic constitutions. Therefore, the President has stated that the talks should be held within the structures established by law.

The CORD move was bound to raise a couple of queries – if the leadership truly believes in national dialogue, why did they boycott the forum? Does this confirm the widely held fear that CORD is not committed to genuine talks?