The country is going through anxious moments yet again as the Opposition plans to hold a parallel ceremony to swear in Raila Odinga as the ‘People’s President’ on Jamhuri Day. A flurry of activities in the past few days underscore the tension and the singular desire to avoid violent confrontation.
Foreign envoys, religious organisations and the umbrella trade union have reached out to Mr Odinga and the National Super Alliance leadership, asking that they shelve the plan.
The cardinal fear is that such an activity is bound to elicit drastic actions from the government and cause chaos. Experience of the past months have shown how brutal the security agencies are when dealing with the Opposition, and this will not be any different should Nasa go ahead with their plan.
An even more substantial question is the implication of the oath. Opinion is divided with the Opposition arguing this is a push for direct representation permissible in law. Noticeably, the language changed on Friday from swearing-in to inauguration, which does not mean anything to the public.
The true position of the law is well known, there is only one national President whose election and assumption of office is clearly enunciated in statues.
Ascendancy to that office is accompanied with certain instruments of power.
So it beggars question; what does Mr Odinga’s plan signify. What does the ‘People’s President’ do? What powers does he have?
Going for such drastic actions denote some subterranean problems. Nasa has refused to recognise President Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency on the grounds that the elections were defective and fatally flawed. It has consistently clamoured for electoral justice and pushing for negotiations whose outcome is fresh election under a different regime; which proposition is militantly contested by Jubilee.
Progressively, there is growing consensus that the country’s leadership must engage in candid conversation to tackle the widening political chasm and confront constitutional and social challenges. This requires sobriety and utmost good faith.
For this reason, Mr Odinga should put on hold the planned ceremony. Conversely, President Kenyatta should quickly engage Mr Odinga and his team as well as other interest groups to negotiate and resolve the contentious issues that threaten to tear the country apart.
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