Raila rules out merging poll with referendum

ODM leader Raila Odinga has ruled out holding a referendum together with the 2022 election, insisting that the vote to change the Constitution must be conducted separately and before the polls.

In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with the Sunday Nation from his home in Karen, Mr Odinga said he and President Uhuru Kenyatta will be receiving the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report “shortly” to start the journey to the referendum.

There have been suggestions, based on costs, disruption caused by campaigns and the Covid-19 outbreak, that the referendum should either be shelved or held together with the next election.

“How do you have a referendum question with an election? I need to know where it has been done. Already, we have six ballot papers. .. then you introduce another one. You will create confusion so this matter must be resolved before we go for elections,” he said. He was speaking for the first time since he went for a medical trip to Dubai in June before taking a break in Watamu mid last month.

Mr Odinga told the Sunday Nation that after the BBI report is presented by the team chaired by Garissa Senator Yussuf Haji, it will be made public for discussion. He said the report will be in three parts: issues that require Executive action, those that need legislative action through Bills in Parliament and finally changes that must be done through a referendum.

Democratic processes

“We are hoping that all this can be done by end of the year,” he said, adding that it was possible to ensure democratic processes continue without endangering the lives of citizens during the pandemic.

The ODM leader, whose March 2018 handshake with President Uhuru Kenyatta shook the political landscape, was confident BBI would not be derailed.

“Reggae has not stopped. I said that reggae was on half-time. And it is going to start again shortly.  By the time COVID-19 hit us, we were only left with two consultation meetings – Nakuru and Nairobi,” he said.

There are currently two bills in Parliament to guide any referendum. The first bill was drawn by the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) chaired by Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni and seeks to have a plebiscite in 2022 alongside the General Election.

The bill is being viewed suspiciously by Mr Odinga’s camp who believe it is sympathetic to Deputy President William Ruto’s cause. The second bill was drafted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and handed over to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) of the National Assembly.

On the handshake, whose viability critics have questioned, Mr Odinga said he believes he and President Kenyatta had put the country on the right path.

But when asked about the end game in relation to the 2022 elections and succession politics, Mr Odinga was evasive.

“President Uhuru Kenyatta and I said we don’t want to talk about 2022. We want to come up with reforms that will make it possible for this country to transition, not just engaging in campaigns,” he said.

So will he be a candidate, kingmaker or retiree in the next election?

“I’ve said we don’t want to talk about 2022. Period.”

One thing he is willing to talk about is the future of Nasa —the coalition whose ticket he used to seek the Presidency in the controversial 2017 elections. And it’s future sounded bleak.

“I think you need to understand Nasa in proper context. Nasa was not a political party. Nasa was an alliance or a coalition of political parties – it’s a pre-election political pact,” he explained.

This meant that while the parties worked together so seek the presidency, they competed for other seats separately.

“Now in the pre-election pact, if the coalition wins then it forms the government and they share — if the agreement covered sharing of some resources post-election. But if they don’t (form a government) the coalition dies automatically… There is nothing else,” he said . However, Mr Odinga is coy about a claim published in the Sunday Nation recently in which Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka— his running mate in the 2013 and 2017 elections— claimed there was a secret deal for the ODM leader to support the former VP in 2022.

“I really don’t want to talk about that. I don’t know the context in which he talked about it and therefore I don’t want to discuss that,” said Mr Odinga.

Troubled IEBC

And would Mr Odinga consider working with embattled Deputy President William Ruto, who has fallen out with President Kenyatta, in future despite their differences?

“I have no problem with Deputy President William Ruto. I mean we are not enemies at all,” he said.

But ahead of the 2022 elections, Mr Odinga said he did not believe IEBC as currently constituted should be in charge,

“I think it should be overhauled. I mean, look at the entire commission and the staff and form it afresh,” he said.

The commission currently has three commissioners, including the chairman, after four left in different circumstances since 2017. 

With masks, social distancing and handwashing being a requirement before and during the interview at his Karen home, it is hard to escape the “new normal” brought about by the pandemic.

How does he rate the Jubilee government’s handling of the health, social and economic crisis brought by coronavirus?

“I think the government took this as an emergency when the first case was reported and took action immediately. Then, they announced lockdown and travel restrictions and started testing of people and making daily announcements. You can see that from that time up to today, no day passes without the government informing the country about what is happening. I think the government has done pretty well,” he said, adding that the continent has generally done well in handling the health and economic crisis.

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