• Raila said there is a wrong perception that ODM is the one that is supposed to be in the opposition to check on the government.
•He said under the old Constitution, it was solely upon the opposition party to critique the government.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
ODM leader Raila Odinga has maintained that the country must have a referendum before the 2022 General Election.
Raila on Thursday dismissed claims that the country does not have money to hold a referendum shortly before the election.
He was speaking during the swearing-in of newly named officials of the party's elections board.
Raila, who doubles as the Special Envoy of infrastructure for AU, said corruption had made the electoral process in the country expensive.
He said it is ironic that for instance, a ballot paper in other countries costs cents, yet in Kenya billions of shillings are spent in the whole process.
Raila said holding a repeat presidential election makes matters worse.
"A referendum should not cost more than Sh2 billion. There is money to hold a referendum and we are going to teach (IEBC chairman Wafula) Chebukati how to do it if he does not know," Raila said.
He added, "A referendum is a must and we shall do it before the next election".
Raila said there has been speculation on social media that the BBI project had died.
He said the current Covid-19 pandemic had disrupted plans of officially receiving the report.
"BBI is still there and very active and will soon start walking. Ignore the speculation about the process because very soon with my brother (President) Uhuru, we shall receive the report from the task force," he said.
Raila added, "So I want to tell you that the reggae has not stopped but is on half-time. The players have been receiving massage and instructions from the coaches and we shall be back soon and nobody will stop us."
The ODM leader further dismissed claims that the handshake had weakened the opposition in the country.
Raila said there is a wrong perception that ODM is the one that is supposed to be in the opposition to check on the government.
He said under the old Constitution, it was solely upon the opposition party to critique the government.
"Our media is ill-informed about ODM's mandate. Before the new constitution, we had a high breed of a parliamentary and presidential system where opposition was to check on the government. In the current presidential system where we have the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary things are different," he said.
Raila argued that it is upon Parliament to oversight the government alongside the minority party and not vice versa.
"The opposition is not therefore weak. That is why we have committees in both the National Assembly and the Senate tasked to oversight various functions of the government," he said.
"It is therefore not about ODM but upon all the MPs to play their role," he added.
Raila said the system is however still new and as a country, there are many lessons to be learned and adopted.