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Raila: I’m ready to dialogue with Uhuru

By IBRAHIM ORUKO October 17th, 2017 2 min read

The National Super Alliance (Nasa) leader Raila Odinga has said he is ready for dialogue with President Uhuru Kenyatta, but maintained that the agenda for such a meeting would be about free, fair and credible election and not a coalition government.

Mr Odinga told the media on Tuesday afternoon that his team was ready for such dialogue “as soon as yesterday” and vowed never to attend if it was about forming a coalition government.

“The impression has been created that it is me who is wants nusu mkate (coalition government),” he said in reference to claims by Jubilee Party leaders that he has called for mass protests to demand for a coalition government having lost in the August 8 presidential election.

ARM TWIST

Deputy President William Ruto has claimed that Mr Odinga is pushing for demonstrations in order to arm-twist President Kenyatta to form a coalition government.

“I have never called Mr Kenyatta to demand for a coalition government and therefore such claims are preposterous. Nasa wants to form the government. We want a full loaf because we earned it. We won the August 8 election,” he said.

Mr Odinga was speaking at Wilson Airport moments after his return from Meru County where the coalition’s anti-IEBC rally was disrupted and cancelled.

Mr Odinga further insisted that the whole concept of the 2008 grand coalition government was the brainchild of the DP who was then one of the pentagon members in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

ACCEPT IDEA

“He came to me and asked me to accept the idea of a coalition government. My role with President Mwai Kibaki and Dr Koffi Annan was merely to agree on the powers of the holder of the office of the Prime Minister,” he said.

He added: “Ruto pressurised me to appoint him as Agriculture minister on the basis that it was the ministry with a majority of state parastatals. That is why I appointed him minister for agriculture. If there is a greedy man that is Mr Ruto and not Mr Odinga. If there is liar, then that is Mr Ruto and not Mr Odinga.”