Akombe
Odinga Insists No Election on Thursday
Re-run for Kenyan presidential election is billed to hold on Thursday but Raila Odinga today maintained that there will be no election.
Both President Uhuru Kenyatta and the opposition figure, Odinga, preached peace in Kenya as they took part in a ceremony to celebrate Kenyan heroes today. But while Kenyatta urged Kenyans to vote peacefully, Odinga asked Kenyans to stay away peacefully.
Drama at the heroes event suggested that Kenyatta may have forgiven Justice David Maraga for up-turning the August election.
Upon his arrival for ceremony today, Kenyatta was obliged to shake hands Maraga.
Guardian.ng reports that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his rival Raila Odinga made calls Friday for election peace, while making veiled digs at each other on a day when the country celebrates its independence heroes.
“In Kenya’s capital Nairobi, Kenyatta oversaw a celebration full of pomp and ceremony for the annual Heroes Day, using the opportunity to push his campaign for re-election and warn his rival against disrupting next Thursday’s vote”, reports The Guardian
Kenyatta said he would “not allow a repeat of the painful past where lives and properties were lost. We must therefore stand up and say no to any misleading leader out to plunge Kenya into chaos.”
He urged Kenya citizens to respect the right to vote or to abstain, and said “security organs have been enhanced and appropriately deployed to maintain law and order”.
Odinga announced his pull-out of the election last week, condemning the election commission for failing to make sufficient reforms to avoid the “irregularities” that led the first vote to be cancelled.
“I want to plead with you, the differences we have with Mr Kenyatta should not be made personal. Those are our differences. You should not attack each other because of that,” Odinga said.
He said he would announce “the way forward” on the eve of the election, having previously called for mass protests on the day of the vote.