Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga has revealed that he turned down President William Ruto’s invitation to State House to witness the signing of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill 2024 into law.
Speaking on Saturday, Raila said he declined to attend the event at State House and asked that it be held at a neutral venue.
“The other day they sent me a message that the IEBC report passed by parliament will be signed by President William Ruto and they want me as the Azimio co-principal to be there. They said it would be at State House. I said I’m not going to State House; it should be somewhere else. Then they said KICC and I agreed,” Raila remarked.
The former prime minister noted that he had instructed Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and National Assembly minority leader Opiyo Wandayi to attend the meeting on his behalf, but Kalonzo demanded that he attend the meeting as he was the coalition leader.
“I called Kalonzo; I told him they wanted me to go but he would lead our team. I told him to go with Opiyo Wandayi and I would stay aside. But Kalonzo insisted that I must be there,” Raila added.
Further Raila denied allegations of a ‘handshake’ with President Ruto, saying the call for dialogue was not for his benefit but for the benefit of the people of Kenya.
“We want reforms in the judiciary as well as the executive and legislature. This is the dialogue we wanted so people can meet somewhere and talk,” the former PM remarked.
On Tuesday last week, Raila welcomed Ruto’s move to form a multisectoral forum, a move which failed to sit well with a section of Kenyans online.
