NASA supremo Raila Odinga has dismissed President Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto’s statements that the time for politics is over, saying there cannot be development without politics.
“Politics must come first and that is when development can take place. Development cannot take place in a vacuum as Jubilee wants us to believe,” Raila said.
He added that if Jubilee is not ready for dialogue to address political injustice and electoral reforms, the coalition will use their own means to arrest the situation once and for all.
The ‘People’s President’ said Uhuru’s infamous “we shall revisit” words seem to be playing out with continuous attacks on the Judiciary by the Executive. He called this a “perfect breeding ground” for political dictatorship.
“The Judiciary must be independent. We will not allow anyone to remote control it,” Raila said.
The NASA leader reaffirmed that the opposition do no recognize the Jubilee government after the Supreme Court nullified the August 8 presidential election.
He further rubbished reports in some newspapers that he “smells” betrayal among other principals.
Raila also defended his Deputy Party leader and Kakamega Governor Wickliffe Oparanya against reports he (Oparanya) had asked him (Raila) to retire. He termed the reports as propaganda by a section of media to taint Oparanya’s political career.
“I shared on the issue with Oparanya and he confirmed to me he only asked the Jubilee government to end the political stalemate by accepting dialogue,” Raila said.
Raila warned media houses against misreporting with the aim of creating division in the coalition.
“It is true every movement sometimes goes through difficult times and we have seen it even in Jubilee but that does not split a union with a specific agenda like NASA,” he said.
Raila said all affiliates will continue to support each other in the alliance, surviving the test of time for now and even after 2022.
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