Ab-Titchaz
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 30, 2008
- 14,630
- 4,267
KALONZO UNDER PRESSURE TO LEAVE CORD
MAKE UP YOUR MIND: A pensive Kalonzo Musyoka at the Milimani law courts when Kethi Kilonzo presented herself to plead on September 3, 2013.
Friday, June 27, 2014 - 00:00 -- BY FELIX OLICK AND ANDREW MBUVA
WIPER leader Kalonzo Musyoka is under pressure to leave Cord.
Several Ukambani MPs told the Star yesterday that they believe that ODM leader Raila Odinga is starting to prepare to run for President again in 2017 and this will lock out Kalonzo.
"We have told him that he must leave Cord now if he wants a bright political future. We think all these rallies Raila is undertaking are meant to position himself as the most ideal candidate to take on Jubilee," said an MP.
We cannot keep talking of a national dialogue when actually we in Cord need an internal dialogue to know whether Raila is ready to honour the pre-election agreement we signed, said Mbooni MP Kisoi Munyao yesterday.
Raila, who was President Uhuru Kenyatta's main challenger in last year's election, has called for nationwide rallies next month over what he said were public worries that include security failings, corruption and the rising cost of living.
His comments have set him on a collision course with the government, which has dismissed the deadline as a bid by the 69-year-old former prime minister to create a crisis that will haul him back to the centre of politics in Kenya.
In an interview with Reuters this week, Raila denied any such goal, but did not dismiss the idea of making a fourth bid for the Presidency in 2017.
"I have not ruled it out, but I have not considered it," he said.
The push for national dialogue has also divided Ukambani leaders, triggering speculation that Kalonzo could eventually bolt out of the Cord stockade.
Yesterday, Four MPs from the region strongly criticized the ongoing rallies, terming them a waste of time.
But Wiper Chairman David Musila dismissed the speculation, insisting that the push for national dialogue has the blessings of the party's leadership.
Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, Itwiku Mbai of Masinga, Francis Mwangangi of Yatta and Mbooni MP Mike Kisoi said it was wrong for the Cord leadership to begin taking the country into campaign mode.
The President will have gone against the spirit of the Constitution by allowing any dialogue with the Opposition, because the IEBC is a constitutional body and there is a legal frame work on how it can be disbanded, he said.
Musyoka said that Cord leaders should look for alternative ways of pushing for the disbanding of IEBC and not through national dialogue.
According to the MP, Cord was using the national dialogue demand as an excuse to polarize the country and destabilize the Jubilee Administration.
But other Wiper MPs affirmed their unwavering support for Cord, even as it emerged that former VP Kalonzo will skip another rally - the Eldoret event.
We shall be present in Eldoret because we all believe in national dialogue. The former VP is fully committed to this cause, Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo told the Star.
Why should somebody sit somewhere alone and set an agenda, which only he who knows, and we start following foolishly?" Itwiku wondered aloud.
KALONZO UNDER PRESSURE TO LEAVE CORD | The Star
MAKE UP YOUR MIND: A pensive Kalonzo Musyoka at the Milimani law courts when Kethi Kilonzo presented herself to plead on September 3, 2013.
Friday, June 27, 2014 - 00:00 -- BY FELIX OLICK AND ANDREW MBUVA
WIPER leader Kalonzo Musyoka is under pressure to leave Cord.
Several Ukambani MPs told the Star yesterday that they believe that ODM leader Raila Odinga is starting to prepare to run for President again in 2017 and this will lock out Kalonzo.
"We have told him that he must leave Cord now if he wants a bright political future. We think all these rallies Raila is undertaking are meant to position himself as the most ideal candidate to take on Jubilee," said an MP.
We cannot keep talking of a national dialogue when actually we in Cord need an internal dialogue to know whether Raila is ready to honour the pre-election agreement we signed, said Mbooni MP Kisoi Munyao yesterday.
Raila, who was President Uhuru Kenyatta's main challenger in last year's election, has called for nationwide rallies next month over what he said were public worries that include security failings, corruption and the rising cost of living.
His comments have set him on a collision course with the government, which has dismissed the deadline as a bid by the 69-year-old former prime minister to create a crisis that will haul him back to the centre of politics in Kenya.
In an interview with Reuters this week, Raila denied any such goal, but did not dismiss the idea of making a fourth bid for the Presidency in 2017.
"I have not ruled it out, but I have not considered it," he said.
The push for national dialogue has also divided Ukambani leaders, triggering speculation that Kalonzo could eventually bolt out of the Cord stockade.
Yesterday, Four MPs from the region strongly criticized the ongoing rallies, terming them a waste of time.
But Wiper Chairman David Musila dismissed the speculation, insisting that the push for national dialogue has the blessings of the party's leadership.
Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, Itwiku Mbai of Masinga, Francis Mwangangi of Yatta and Mbooni MP Mike Kisoi said it was wrong for the Cord leadership to begin taking the country into campaign mode.
The President will have gone against the spirit of the Constitution by allowing any dialogue with the Opposition, because the IEBC is a constitutional body and there is a legal frame work on how it can be disbanded, he said.
Musyoka said that Cord leaders should look for alternative ways of pushing for the disbanding of IEBC and not through national dialogue.
According to the MP, Cord was using the national dialogue demand as an excuse to polarize the country and destabilize the Jubilee Administration.
But other Wiper MPs affirmed their unwavering support for Cord, even as it emerged that former VP Kalonzo will skip another rally - the Eldoret event.
We shall be present in Eldoret because we all believe in national dialogue. The former VP is fully committed to this cause, Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo told the Star.
Why should somebody sit somewhere alone and set an agenda, which only he who knows, and we start following foolishly?" Itwiku wondered aloud.
KALONZO UNDER PRESSURE TO LEAVE CORD | The Star