Raila allays fears of cracks in CORD over separate party rallies

CORD leader Raila Odinga has dismissed media reports that the coalition was likely to split.

He said the coalition co-principals — himself, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula — would remain united and that one of them will be the country’s fifth President after the 2017 General Election.

Raila announced that CORD affiliate parties — ODM, Wiper Democratic Movement and Ford Kenya — will each work to strengthen their outfits and later agree on a candidate to face President Uhuru Kenyatta in the polls.

Speaking at Kirembe grounds in Kisumu yesterday during celebrations to mark ODM’s tenth anniversary, the party leader allayed fears that he was contemplating going it alone in the elections.

“Our unity is still intact and nobody should mistake our current separate rallies to mean disunity,” Raila told the huge crowd.

He was accompanied by deputy party leader Hassan Joho, chairman John Mbadi and secretary general Agnes Zani, five governors, senators, MPs and Members of County Assemblies from Nyanza and Western.

He denied reports that appeared in sections of the media (not The Standard) to the effect that he had hinted during his tour of Narok County on Friday that he was contemplating going it alone.

“I want to make it clear that CORD is like a big homestead with many houses. We have Wiper, Ford-Kenya and ODM, all under one strong alliance. We belong to this home but each child belongs to his or her house. We all share the same sitting room with a universal vision,” said Raila.

He added: “ODM will go full throttle to strengthen itself, the same with Wiper and Ford-Kenya. We shall then come together and pick one single flag bearer to face the opponent. CORD is enjoying rock solid support and the coalition leaders enjoy a mutual relationship.”

Raila declared that the co-principals will do everything possible to unite CORD members so that together they can ride on their new-found slogan “Forward Together” to defeat Jubilee in the elections.

He received three MPs who had decamped from ODM and were elected on different party tickets in the 2013 elections. They were James Onyango K’Oyoo of Muhoroni (PDP), Olago Aluoch of Kisumu Town West and Jared K’Opiyo of Awendo, both elected on Ford Kenya tickets.

“The prices of the basic commodities have risen to unprecedented levels and many people are not able to cope with biting inflation. We can only change this when we unite and vote ODM into power,” said Raila.

Controlling the economy

The CORD leader rooted for a free market economy driven by consumer sovereignty. “We want a system where the economy operates without undue interference from the government,” he said. He claimed that the Jubilee administration was controlling the economy and trying to use its authority to dictate market forces which had led to unprecedented rise in prices of basic goods.

“I toured Uasin Gishu and was surprised to learn that the price of a bag of fertiliser had increased by almost Sh300 and this if not checked, it will affect the country’s grain basket,” he said.

He said under the Grand Coalition government, he and former President Kibaki had created three special economic zones— Lamu, Mombasa and Kisumu. These, he said, was meant to help stir the hitherto sleepy economies of sea zones.

Raila claimed that, the government has instead shifted development programmes to Naivasha 80 kilometres from Nairobi, exposing the people of Nyanza to “economic strangulation.”

He further claimed that Nyanza had suffered economic marginalisation, ethnic discrimination and political oppression, adding that only a CORD government would save Kenyans from these problems.

Mombasa Governor Joho also had no kind words for the Jubilee government. “We can’t have these two people leading this country for 20 years,” he said.

He equated Raila to a king who was capable of uniting all Kenyans irrespective of ethnic or tribal inclinations and asked Kenyans to support his presidential bid.

Joho got a standing ovation at the rally with every speaker saying he was the ODM leader’s undisputed number two.

The party’s director of elections, Mr Junet Mohammed (Suna East MP), said they would decide by October 10 whether they should announce fresh rounds of anti-IEBC demonstrations. He said this may be necessary if the impasse over the appointment of new commissioners will not have been resolved.

“We can’t be taken for a ride. If they can’t leave, be prepared for yet another round of countrywide protests to push for our democratic rights,” declared Junet.

His sentiments were echoed by Siaya Senator James Orengo. Both are members of the joint IEBC dispute resolution committee.

The leaders urged Nyanza residents to come out in large numbers and register as voters to end marginalisation of the region.

Raila said Nyanza must prove that it is an ODM stronghold. He reached out to the youth, urging them to collect their identification cards lying in various distribution offices across the region. “We want 100 per cent turnout by those eligible to vote in the coming elections, we must prove that Nyanza is an ODM base,” he said.

Data by the regional National Registration Bureau shows that over 55,000 IDs  have not been collected.

Joho said reluctance by the Jubilee government to bail out the sugar and fisheries sector— which are some of the key economic pillars of western Kenya — was proof enough that it had skewed interest in serving the nation.

The governor said the government had constantly pumped millions of shillings into the troubled Kenya Airways with little attention given to the sectors which are facing collapse.

“Jubilee is not fit to rule this country. And whereas I believe anyone is democratically eligible to vie for presidency, I believe only Raila has what it takes to uproot (President) Uhuru and (DP) Ruto,” he said.