NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga has rubbished claims that the opposition outfit isn’t ready for the general election. While addressing the press in Nairobi before embarking on the campaign trail to Kiambu County, he said that they are committed to the elections, “We as NASA are very committed to the August 8th elections, Jubilee have been spreading propaganda that NASA is afraid and we don’t want elections to be held. We’ve said we want to have elections on 8th of August,” he said.
However, he said they don’t just want to have elections, but free, fair and credible elections. “Don’t just tell us you want peaceful elections. Peace follows fairness and transparency,” he said, insisting that it’s the most important issue Jubilee should address. “We want to have an electoral process which will reflect the will of Kenyans,” said Raila Odinga.
He urged IEBC to work independently, and not be a body that is dictated by external forces. “Why should auditing become a major issue?” he posed, “Then we see some staff being suspended and then they are reinstated without an explanation, and without even knowing what have investigations revealed,” he said. The ODM leader external forces are controlling operations at IEBC, adding that it ahs become a serious issue.
The NASA leader hit out at the auditing of the register, saying the issue of ghost voters wasn’t properly addressed. “We’ve been looking for that auditing report. When our Secretary General, Agnes Zani asked for it she was told the report was presented to parliament,” he said, “Why should you send the report to parliament which has been adjourned?” He said there is a deliberate attempt to try and retain ghost voters in the register, and the electoral body hasn’t addressed the issue.