CORD has identified what it calls the seven grand failures of the Jubilee government. These will be discussed during the Opposition’s Saba Saba rally at Uhuru Park in Nairobi on Monday.
They are promotion of negative ethnicity, skewed public appointments, grand corruption, and high cost of living. In addition, insecurity, devolution and provincial administration, and Jubilee’s refusal to disband the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) are included. Monday is July 7 and saba is Swahili for the number seven.
The Opposition coalition’s co-principals Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula said President Uhuru Kenyatta forced them to hold the controversial rally. This was after he rejected their request for national dialogue on the seven issues.
Thursday, an attempt by the Inter-Party Parliamentary Caucus led by Rev Mutava Musyimi failed. It tried to convince the trio to call off the rally in favour of using Parliament. Mutava’s team met the three at CORD’s secretariat in Capital Hill Centre at Upper Hill, Nairobi.
“We will be gathering directly due to the Government’s failure. They did not convene a national dialogue process to enable Kenyans to deliberate on issues of critical concern,” the trio said at Uhuru Park. This was in a statement styled “final media briefing ahead of our Saba Saba rally” that is “also a confirmation that the rally is on.”
However, fears that Jubilee and CORD supporters would clash at the rally’s venue on Monday have been squashed. This happened after the ruling coalition distanced itself from claims it had planned parallel rally at the venue.
National Assembly Leader Aden Duale said Jubilee has no plans to hold a public event on Monday. This was after a section of its members claimed to have booked the Uhuru Park venue where Cord will hold its rally. Former Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu and TNA activist Moses Kuria insisted they had booked the venue at City Hall. They paid Sh50,000 in the name of Mavuno Youth Congress, an outfit they associated with the ruling Jubilee coalition.
“We have come to inspect the venue of our meeting. We are the sponsors of the Mavuno Youth Congress. We applied and paid for the venue and now we are set to hold our peaceful rally on Monday,” Waititu said. He showed documents of which some, strangely enough, had the logo of the defunct City Council of Nairobi.
But Duale distanced Jubilee from the claims. “It has been reported in sections of the media that Jubilee has reserved Uhuru Park for a function next Monday. For avoidance of misunderstanding, I confirm that neither the Jubilee alliance, nor any of its affiliates has made reservation of the park for that day. I repeat the Jubilee alliance has not reserved Uhuru Park for any political function on or around July 7.”
Moments after the Waititu group left, Raila, Kalonzo and Wetangula led their supporters to affirm that they would hold their rally at the venue. In the buildup to the rally, CORD will hold other meetings, starting today at the Gusii stadium. This will be followed by Busia and Ugunja and then Kisumu on Saturday and Machakos on Sunday.
“This is our final media briefing ahead of our Saba Saba rally scheduled for Uhuru Park on Monday, July 7. It is also a confirmation that the rally is on, and an open invitation to all Kenyans,” Wetangula said. He read a statement on behalf of the CORD principals.
The Bungoma senator expressed that a consistent theme in the Constitution is the importance of national unity and ethnic inclusion. He added that several groups are in the grip of ferocious communal conflict. These include the Njemps and Tugen, Orma and Pokomo, Gabra and Borana, Degodia and Garre, Turkana and Pokot, and the coastal and upcountry people. Their relations are poisoned by suspicion and mistrust.
CORD wants the Public Service Commission to publish a list. It should include all appointments made in the public service since March 4, last year. This includes full details listing names, regions, and percentages. The Opposition wants names of all senior public officers categorized by their ethnicity, region, and gender, from the position of director and upwards. These officers, who have been sacked or transferred since the Jubilee government was sworn in, should be made public.
“Recruitment in State organs has manifestly failed to reflect the diversity of the Kenyan people. As a result, today, entire communities feel excluded from participating in the management of national affairs on the basis of ethnicity, gender, and other forms of identity,” he said. On corruption, the Opposition said impunity has become the norm. Graft now costs Kenya about 300,000 jobs every year. Furthermore, it has contributed to Kenya sliding steadily down the annual list of failed states — compiled by Fund for Peace — to 17th from the bottom globally in 2013.
“An inability to stem it on the part of the population and its leadership has contributed to a sharp spike. This spike has led to the destruction of the country’s national heritage, which it holds in trust for the rest of humanity. This destruction occurs through the poaching of elephants and rhinos in particular.”
Source-standardmedia.co.ke
