Why Uhuru govt will not arrest Raila despite ‘toxic’ remark
Government Spokesman Eric Kiraithe on Thursday said Cord leader Raila Odinga will not be arrested for remarks he made at a rally in Narok County last Saturday.
“Of course the motive was to get himself arrested and justify a notion that the government of the day is suppressing the opposition,” Mr Kiraithe said.
He said the opposition was “incurably disorganised and unlikely to present any meaningful political competition”.
Mr Kiraithe added that it was wrong for the Cord leader to ask people to carry weapons and chase electoral commissioners out of office even as the government was in the process of sending them home.
SPARK VIOLENCE
He said such utterances could spark violence similar to that of 2007/08.
“Nataka wakenya wote kutoka Mandera, Isiolo, Samburu, Kajiado na pande zote za Kenya, wajihami na mikuki, mishale, na silaha zote tuende huko Nairobi na tutoe hiyo committee ya Hassan kwenye ofisi (I am calling on all Kenyans from Mandera, Isiolo, Samburu, Kajiado and elsewhere in Kenya to arm themselves so that we go to Nairobi and force Hassan’s team out of office),” Mr Raila said.
On Thursday, National Cohesion and Integration Commission chairman Francis ole Kaparo said the team would investigate Mr Odinga regarding the utterances.
Mr Kaparo told Parliament’s Joint Committee on Cohesion and Integration that there was need for such an investigation before a decision was made. “We can’t just go into things,” he said.
The matter was brought up by Samburu Woman Representative Maison Leshoomo at a meeting with the commission.
She said the Samburu and the Maasai were unhappy with the remarks attributed to Mr Odinga.
