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Raila says Cord won’t call off outlawed weekly demos


Cord leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday rejected calls to suspend the weekly demonstrations to pave the way for dialogue.

Mr Odinga asked Jubilee to set up a team outside parliament to discuss reforms of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission before he can call off the protests.

“We in Cord are ready (for the talks). We are telling them there are five days between today (Tuesday) and next Monday. They must form a team and come to the table,” said Mr Odinga.

Jubilee has said they are also ready for talks, as long as they are carried out within the confines of the Constitution in Parliament.

Mr Odinga was responding to a request by Council of Governors Chairman Peter Munya, who had asked him to consider calling off the weekly demos to create a conducive atmosphere for dialogue over electoral reforms.

He spoke during a stakeholders consultative forum on elections organised by CoG.

STATE HOUSE MEETING

Mr Odinga maintained that last week’s State House meeting attended by him, Cord co-principal Moses Wetang’ula, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto had resolved that each team picks five individuals to negotiate on the way forward regarding the IEBC stalemate.

“When I met the President, I proposed that we choose five members and they pick five as well. They said they would consider that, but would first deal with the issue of Madaraka Day,” he said.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto have dismissed Mr Odinga’s claims that the meeting resolved to form a team of five members. Mr Wetang’ula told the Senate after the State House meeting that nothing conclusive was agreed.

The Deputy President accused the Cord leadership of peddling falsehoods over the matter.

Mr Odinga criticised the Judiciary for rejecting his presidential election petition on technicalities rather than on the strength of the evidence he had presented.

“We were told that our 960 pages of evidence was time-barred and should be expunged,” said Mr Odinga.

He spoke after the chairman of the Judiciary Standing Committee on Elections, Justice David Maraga, said his team had presented a petition to Parliament seeking an amendment to the Elections Act to extend the period for hearing a presidential petition from the current 14 days to 30.