Raila Odinga rules out return-to-House bid

PHOTO | MACHARIA MWANGI Cord leader Raila Odinga arrives for the alliance’s retreat at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha on April 14, 2013. The coalition leaders are meeting to lay the groundwork for exercising their oversight duties in the opposition.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By DAVE OPIYO dopiyo@ke.nationmedia.com AND MAURICE KALUOCH newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Sunday, April 14  2013 

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Sunday declined offers by some MPs and senators to step down for him.

Instead, Mr Odinga vowed to fight for democracy and implementation of the Constitution from outside Parliament.

The former Lang’ata MP said he had competent, experienced and youthful legislators who were capable of keeping the Jubilee Government on its toes.

“I do not have to be in Parliament to fight for democratisation because the Coalition of Reforms and Democracy has competent legislators,” he said on Sunday at Kakiimba Village in Mfangano Island, Homa Bay County, during the burial of Mzee Sila Ogweno Ooro, the father of his personal assistant Silas Jakakiimba. He spoke as more details of his meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto came to the fore.

Mr Odinga’s close aide, who refused to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, revealed that some allies of the former PM and his presidential election running mate Kalonzo Musyoka, could actually make their way into the Jubilee government.

According to the aide, President Kenyatta had offered Mr Odinga some Cabinet and Principal Secretaries slots as a way of promoting national unity.

He said President Kenyatta started looking for the former PM a day before the March 4 presidential election results were announced.

“He managed to reach him through a mutual friend but they never discussed much because results had not been declared,” he said. “When the Supreme Court made their judgment, he started looking for Raila again. This time Ruto came on board. That is how Raila came to meet Uhuru face to face for the first time.”

The source said Mr Odinga was not keen on the meeting but only agreed because the mutual friend insisted.

He said the Saturday meeting at State House between Jubilee and Cord leaders did not discuss the offer in detail, but only emphasised the new government’s resolve to bring everyone on board.

However, President Kenyatta reportedly stated his wish that Mr Odinga plays a role on the international stage.

While in Khwisero on Saturday, Mr Odinga appeared to spurn an offer to serve as an envoy for the Jubilee Government. “My in-tray is already full and I’m prepared to settle down to keep the new government in check.”

He said that he had asked Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto not to entice members of his coalition to weaken the role of the opposition checking the government.

Mr Odinga, who was speaking during the burial of Khwisero MP Benjamin Andola’s mother, said the country needed a strong opposition and he was ready to continue fighting for reforms and strengthen Cord as well as his ODM party.

He said the victory by the Jubilee in the March 4 General Election should not be seen as a blow to his campaign to nurture democracy in the country.

“I want to tell my supporters the time has come for us to move on despite the loss in the last General Election,” he said.

He went on: “I do not need any sympathy because I am not dead. I’m still around and will continue the fight for Kenyans’ rights.”

Additional reporting by Benson Amadala