Raila differs with Karua on dialogue team report

Azimio leader Raila Odinga has formally endorsed the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report saying it included all the issues the Opposition was pushing for, except the cost of living.

He regretted that the report, although largely good, left out the most striking concern that millions of Kenyans wanted addressed setting them on a collision path with the people.

“They dismissed our proposal on cost of living arguing that it’s not the role of opposition to decide on how to reduce the cost of living and/or regulate consumer prices,” Raila said.

This, he observed, has now put the opposition in a precarious political situation, because they have to explain to the people, why the issue didn’t feature in the final report handed over to him and President William Ruto.

The two were the principal architects of the talks which stopped protests against the high cost of living in April and mid-May.

“They agreed to open the servers to audit the 2022 disputed presidential poll results. They also accepted that we reconstitute IEBC together and amend the electoral laws to curb party hopping and allow those who defect to seek fresh mandate from the people,” he explained.

Contempt card

The report is, however, threatening the unity of the opposition coalition with some of the principals dismissing it as pro-government.

Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, her DAP-Kenya counterpart Eugene Wamalwa and the Jubilee Party have distanced themselves from the report. Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who co-chaired the NADCO committee, is in Raila’s camp.

“The NADCO report fails to address the issue of cost of living and has instead served Kenyans with a contempt card,” said Karua.

She added: “The NADCO report has nothing to alleviate the suffering of citizens but offers goodies to the leaders. It is a fraud which Kenyans should reject. It is a distracting national smokescreen.”

Karua further claimed the report’s findings confirmed that the committee was “formed by the unwilling, composed of the incompetent to do the unnecessary”.

But according to Raila, the only concern was the high cost of living, an issue which he vowed to continue pushing.

He spoke during the homecoming ceremony for Kisumu Central MP Joshua Oron at his Boya home, in Nyando Constituency.

Wamalwa has also opposed the report.

“I didn’t and will not append my signature to the NADCO report and have not and will not accept any sitting allowance for the same because I believe we did not do justice to the single most important issue to Kenyans – the cost of living,” he said.

Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni argued that the report only addressed proposals raised by the government and disregarded everything brought to the table by the opposition.

“Any time we demanded that the issues be addressed, their side (government) lectured us about the long-term interventions that they said would take effect after three years while we maintained that they required immediate interventions,” Kioni said.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has also weighed in urging former President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Jubilee party members to accept the report.

“If Kalonzo and Ichung’wah, the chairs of NADCO have approved the report, then it is Jubilee that is bringing complications among the Azimio coalition. Why is it that Uhuru Kenyatta and his team do not want to respect the results?” Mudavadi posed.

“What’s the double game here? Let’s all respect the results from bipartisan talks,” Mudavadi said.

Global markets

He said the government was doing its best to address the high cost of living and urged Kenyans to be patient.

Despite the political challenges experienced in the report, Raila reassured Kenyans that they won’t relent on the push or resolve to exert more pressure on the government to reduce the high cost of living.

“We know that millions of Kenyans are still heavily burdened and cannot make ends meet because of the skyrocketing cost of basic food commodities and relentless rise in the cost of energy,” he said

He asserted: “We are going to continue to fight for you. We will not forsake or relent in the pursuit of good for you. All we need is your relentless support as well.”

Raila demanded that the government reduce the cost of fuel by Sh50 and not Sh5 as it happened last week.

The ODM party leader noted that the price of oil per barrel in the global markets had significantly reduced and wondered why in Kenya fuel per litre was still higher compared to the neighbours Tanzania and Uganda.

“In Uganda and Tanzania import fuel through our ports, the cost of fuel is cheaper, why not Kenya? Why do we give room to oil barons to fleece Kenyans?” he posed.