Nairobi News

Must ReadNews

Raila: My swearing-in ceremony is unstoppable


National Super Alliance (Nasa) leader Raila Odinga on Saturday declared he was not afraid of international sanctions against him for carrying on with his swearing-in as the peoples President.

Mr Odinga said he would sacrifice travelling out of the country if that would deliver Kenya from electoral injustice.

He maintained that his January 30 swearing-in ceremony was unstoppable.

Speaking during the National Resistance Movement (NRM) people’s assembly meeting in Homa Bay County, Mr Odinga said the country was at a crisis and needed to be liberated from dictatorship.

He said some ambassadors have been pressuring him to cancel the swearing-in.

NO TIME FOR DIALOGUE

“My friends abroad and ambassadors have been urging me not to take oath, cautioning me of sanctions and having my democratic gains tainted, but I’m not interested in travelling abroad as I am busy fighting electoral injustice in the country,” said Mr Odinga.

He said electoral injustice is becoming a norm in Africa, where incumbents rig themselves to power.

The Nasa principal mentioned the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Togo, Uganda and Rwanda as examples of nations under dictatorial regimes.

“African nations are today holding elections as rituals where incumbents must win the elections,” he said.

His co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka said it was no longer possible to dialogue with Jubilee because time has run out.

He urged the African Union to take note of an emerging conflict in Kenya, saying the Tuesday swearing-in will be the beginning of the struggle.

IEBC SERVERS

“We might not have the army like our counterparts in the government but the whole world will know that the people of Kenya have spoken and need their choice to be respected,” he said.

Nasa co-principal Musalia Mudavadi said they stopped Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka from taking oath when the pressure was high in November and December.

“The pressure is now too much and we have to swear in our leaders,” he said.

Siaya Senator James Orengo said the swearing-in was legal and the Nasa legal team was ready to defend it in court.

“We have no alternative but to swear in Mr Odinga. I am a lawyer and I know how to use the records well,” he told the charged crowd.

The leaders asked the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to open their servers so that Kenyans can know who won the August 8 presidential election.