Recognise Uhuru as President before talks, envoys now urge Raila

NASA leader Raila Odinga checks an SMS on his phone. Looking on is Vihiga Senator George Khaniri (centre) and Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala. [Eric Lungai, Standard]

Eleven foreign envoys have asked the National Super Alliance (NASA) to recognise the election of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto as a legitimate expression of the people’s will before dialogue takes place.

In a statement released yesterday, the diplomats said this was the only way to set the country on a path of recovery, even as the NASA leader Raila Odinga assured his supporters that the journey to Canaan was on course.

“The opposition needs to accept that Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto are the legitimate President and Deputy President of Kenya as the basis for the dialogue that it and many Kenyans want. Stoking and threatening violence are not acceptable, nor are extra-constitutional measures to seize power,” the envoys statement read in part (See separate opinion piece).

But speaking yesterday in Vihiga, Raila urged his supporters to keep fighting for the constitutional gains attained in previous years. “We are now putting in place structures that will enable us to execute our mandate, whether they (government) like it or not,” Raila said.

“If we don’t demand that everyone from the President downwards submits to our Constitution and to the constitutional organs that we created to keep them accountable to us, then we shall have allowed a ‘State capture’ by a few individuals and we shall cease to be citizens of our country and become subjects to a political oligarchy,” he added, and assured his supporters that he had delivered them to the much promised Canaan and that it was only a matter of time before systems were put in place to enable him execute his mandate as the ‘people’s president’.

Unsubstantiated claims

But the envoys, including Robert Godec of the US and Nic Hailey of UK,  termed the swearing-in of the Opposition leader Raila Odinga a violation of the same Constitution he purports to fight for.

“A father of multi-party democracy has made unsubstantiated claims about elections and unilaterally sworn himself as ‘President’, in deliberate disregard of the Constitution for which he so proudly fought,” the envoys said of Raila. “The ambitions of politicians are fundamentally weakening institutions, and breaking bonds of shared citizenship, which Kenyans have built up patiently over decades.”

The envoys also urged the government to comply fully with court orders and follow legal process in appealing or contesting them. “Freedom of expression, freedom of the media, and all civil rights need to be protected. When individuals are arrested, their rights should be respected and due process followed,” they said.

Since his swearing-in, the Opposition leader and his NASA co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka and Musalia Mudavadi have on several occasions accused the Jubilee government of subverting the Constitution.

“Our Constitution has since 2013 faced its nemesis in President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto,” Raila has said.

“At every opportunity, they have tried to invalidate provisions of the Constitution by either ignoring them or overriding them with decrees and legislation,” he added.

Speaking during the requiem mass for Justus Etale, the father of ODM Communications Director Philip Etale in Musitinyi village, the NASA leader also hit out at the security forces for disrespecting the rule of law. “We can’t live in a country where the police don’t respect the lives of the people that they are sent to guard every other day. If it continues this way, the people may decide to rise against them and it would be difficult to control them,” Raila said.

Changing times

Foreign missions have on several occasions been on the receiving end from both sides of the political divide. Kenyatta’s first term was characterized by aggression against the West, with China becoming a preferred partner for trade and finance.

NASA, on the other hand, recently accused the foreign missions of keeping mum at a time of ‘persecution’ and ‘tyranny.’

“We are concerned not because we presume to dictate how Kenyans should regulate their country’s affairs but as fellow democracies, we know our freedoms and rights were hard won, and how carefully we must cherish, strengthen and protect them if our nations are to thrive and prosper,” the statement reads.