As 2015 came to a close, leaders drawn from the government and the opposition put aside their political differences to wish Kenyans a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. But my attention was drawn to an opinion piece by CORD leader Raila Odinga in one of the daily papers.
According to Raila there is nothing for Kenyans to cerebrate about. While citing corruption and insecurity as some of the key challenges the country is facing, he lamented that the Jubilee government spent 2015 fire-fighting. He, however, hoped things would get better in the New Year
Notably, this is not the first time the CORD leader has hit the jubilee administration below the belt.
In his article, Raila revisited the terrorist attack at Garrisa University College that left 147 people dead claiming that the government has lost the war on terror.
Notably, the Garrisa attack drew the condemnation of world leaders among them US President Barack Obama and Pope Francis. Besides condoling with the bereaved families, Obama and a host of leaders from Western countries expressed their solidarity with President Kenyatta and assured him of their support in the fight against terrorism.
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However, Raila politicised the grave matter and made it look as if it was a Kenyan problem.
A few months later, the US leader and the Pope would visit the country. For Obama, the first sitting US president to visit Kenya, he would once again reassure President Kenyatta that the American people supported the government efforts in the fight terror.
Turning to corruption, the CORD leader revisited the issue of alleged misappropriation of Eurobond money. He would argue that the National Treasury could not account for Sh140 billion but he would snub the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission investigators when they invited him to share the dossier on the alleged theft.
I am not opposed to the CORD leader criticising the government if there is a genuine reason to do so. However, he must do it constructively and in a manner that can help the government to make informed decisions.
