Raila: ODM will stand by Kosgey

Photo/FILE Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey during a breakfast meeting with the National Economic and Social Council at KICC on October 3, 2009.

By DAVE OPIYO dopiyo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, June 4 2011 at 19:43

Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Saturday said the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) will stand by its chairman Henry Kosgey even as he tries to prove his innocence at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with charges of post-election violence.

The PM said that Mr Kosgey was an astute official who had steered the affairs of ODM well, adding that the party will accord him full support until his innocence is proved at the ICC.

Mr Odinga was speaking at the Consolata Shrine in Westlands, Nairobi, where he attended a wedding ceremony between Alan Kibet Kosgey and Rita Wambui Kuria.

The bridegroom is the son of the suspended Industrialisation minister Kosgey while the bride is the daughter of Jane Njeri Kuria.

The wedding ceremony was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government Musalia Mudavadi, ministers Sally Kosgei, James Orengo, Fred Gumo and Chris Obure.

The PM, at the same time, hailed inter-tribal marriages saying they help to break tribal barriers among Kenyans.

Saying strong marriages were the foundation of a stable society, he advised couples to stick to their marriage vows to avoid family feuds.

Mr Odinga decried rising cases of domestic violence in the country, saying it was disturbing that innocent lives have been lost in extreme cases.

Mr Kosgey is among six Kenyans named by the ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo as bearing the greatest responsibility for the 2007 post-election violence. (READ: Ruto, Kosgey, Sang face The Hague)

The others are William Ruto, Joshua Sang, Uhuru Kenyatta, Francis Muthaura and Hussein Ali.

The Tinderet MP, who was once regarded as one of ODM’s pillars in the Rift Valley, appeared to have fallen out with his party leader once he was named by Mr Moreno-Ocampo.

Although he has not confirmed this, he was believed by many to have joined the William Ruto camp, which has accused Mr Odinga of being behind the naming of the Ocampo Six.

Mr Odinga has since denied this. This was after the suspended Industrialisation minister surprisingly attended a gathering in Eldoret that had been billed as a national reconciliation and healing rally attended by President Kibaki, Mr Ruto and more than 60 MPs across the country.

It was at this rally that he asked Rift Valley residents to read the signs of the times.

The meeting was held against a backdrop of heightened political tension pitting Rift Valley MPs allied to Mr Ruto against Mr Odinga.

There was then talk that the PM and Mr Kosgey had met to discuss, among other things, preparations for Kosgey’s defence in the two cases facing him, allegations that the Tinderet MP later denied.

The suspended Industrialisation minister has avoided public limelight ever since he left the Cabinet.