Raila: Jubilee taking Kenya back to dictatorship

Raila Odinga claims Jubilee Government is taking Kenya back to dictatorship

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga [Photo:File/Standard]

By Chris Wamalwa in USA

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga tore into theJubilee government accusing the Uhuru Kenyatta-led administration of openly practicing leadership of regional isolation and discrimination.

In a pointed message to Kenyans in the Diaspora, Raila said, “If we go to sleep, we will wake up one day and find ourselves back in the days of a dictatorial national government.”

Addressing a large crowd in Dallas, Texas, Raila said the hope for Kenya lay in fully embracing and nurturing the County governments.

He alleged that there were clear signs that the Uhuru administration was not keen on devolution saying, “Right now, they are busy strengthening the central administration in an effort to weaken devolution. The intention is clearly, to create two centers of power. We have been there and we know from experience how that works.”

On the call from the government spokesman for him to return government vehicles, Raila said he felt there was an agenda to continuously embarrass and humiliate him.

“It is clear there is a scheme to frustrate me. I shared equal power with President Kibaki because the Kriegler report said there was no clear winner in the 2007 general elections.  Kibaki and I shared equal number of ministers in the cabinet. In retirement we are being treated differently,” he said.

In an exclusive interview with the Standard in Dallas, Texas on Saturday on the sideline of a Governors Summit, Raila said while he was being asked to return the six state vehicles he was using, former President Kibaki was enjoying a total of 20 vehicles with two security officers around him.

“Apart from that President Kibaki also has a home that was put up by states resources plus the Sh200 million has been set aside for the construction of another in Nairobi for him. We were equals in the last government why am I being discriminated against?” he asked.

Asked if at all he was having any plans to seek presidency once again Raila was non-committal saying the issue was not his priority at the moment. 

“My hands are full at the moment. I want to ensure devolution works in service delivery to our people in the rural areas. I want to make sure there are investments in the counties and I am also keen on making sure that our environment is protected and democracy rules in the country for speedy development.”

He said he was also focused on ensuring that there was peace on the African continent adding, ‘‘my hands are full now.’’

Responding to questions from the audience, he said he still doubted the ability of the IEBC to deliver a credible election in 2017 saying they have not yet put in place mechanisms to ensure Kenyans in the Diaspora participate as promised.