NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga yesterday dismissed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s statement that he is inciting Kenyans using the land issue.
He accused Uhuru of covering up land problems through unnecessary allegations.
Raila said Jubilee Party officials are clinging to everything to remain relevant ahead of the August election.
Last Friday, Uhuru said Raila incited violence with his remarks that “invading outsiders” should stop moving into Maasai land.
Jubilee has written to the NCIC, demanding that Raila be muzzled, “lest the country be be plunged into ethnic violence”.
But Raila said the Uhuru administration frustrated efforts to unite the country and has failed to implement the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation report and the Ndung’u Land Commission report.
“The 11th Parliament had its last session last week, but the President, who has been in power for almost five years, has done nothing to address the land issue,” he said.
Raila said he will revisit the land issue at length before the August 8 election to unveil solutions and how he will implement the TJRC and Ndung’u reports.
“We have the reports, which have identified the issues and recommended how we should solve them,” he said.
Reports’ recommendations
The TJRC report captures historical injustices from 1963, when Kenya got its Independence from the British. It also proposes how they should be solved.
The Ndung’u Land Commission was established in 2003 to look into the extralegal allocation of public land to individuals and corporate entities.
Its report recommended the land be restored to its original purpose or other appropriate solutions.
“He [Uhuru] should not just give statements for the sake of it, but must address the underlying issues affecting the country,” Raila said.
He said he stands by his statement that people should not be forced to sell their land unnecessarily because of poverty.
“I said poor people have been economically marginalised by the Jubilee administration and should stop selling their land because NASA has a solution,” Raila said at the Okoa Kenya offices, Nairobi.
He criticised the Jubilee administration for using “fake allegations” to intimidate its critics and hide its failures.
“The Jubilee administration is still capitalising on issues we put in place during the grand coalition to survive. It is stealing, micromanaging the economy and promoting tribalism,” Raila said.
“Famine in Kenya has been manufactured and the spouses of top government officials importing rice from Pakistan are among the beneficiaries.”
Raila urged the National Intelligence Service and county commanders to brief the President daily as a matter of public welfare and national security.
“Either the President does not read intelligence briefs or the system of government has collapsed. Maybe the President is not in charge. Alternatively, he just doesn’t care.”