• Opposition chief Raila Odinga has assured that the 2022 presidential election will be free and fair.
• The ODM boss said his commitment and that of President Uhuru Kenyatta for peace would secure a peaceful election.
Image: MARTIN OMBIMA
Opposition chief Raila Odinga has assured that the 2022 presidential election will be free and fair.
The ODM boss said his commitment and that of President Uhuru Kenyatta for peace would secure a peaceful election.
"I can assure you that the election for president will be free and fair as Uhuru and are committed to liberating this country to where our forefathers wanted it to be," he said.
The former prime minister asked the youth not to be worried about the possibility of a repeat of post-election violence.
"There will be no post-election violence," Raila said when he met a section of youth leaders from Mt Kenya at the University of Nairobi.
Making a strong pitch for women, Raila said there is an urgent need for the country to adopt affirmative action to mainstream women representation.
The Orange Democratic Party leader said irrespective of the outcome of the courts on the Building Bridges Initiative, a solution must be sought to deal with the marginalisation of women in political leadership.
The ODM boss named a couple of societal barriers that he insisted impede fair women representation in the political sphere in the country.
He said, for instance, that marriage that forces women to relocate from their birthplaces, pose a serious danger to the success of women participation in politics.
'We urgently need affirmative action and irrespective if the outcome of the courts we are determined to fix this, otherwise the 2022 results would not be any different," said Raila.
He went on: "The are serious historically traditions that work against women and their representation in Parliament."
Speaking when he met youths from Mt Kenya region, Raila stressed the need to also mainstream representation of People living with disabilities.
"The field is not levelled at the moment to ensure proper mainstreaming of PWD in this country," said Raila.
At the same time, Raila said he will ensure not only gender and PWD mainstreaming, but he will also ensure that over a quarter of his cabinet would be comprised of the youth.
"We will have at least four youth cabinet ministers," said Raila as he pitched his case before the cross-section of young people from Mt Kenya.
The ODM boss said the youth must be engaged positively so that they can become the drivers of the country's economy, otherwise, they will slide into criminal activities.
"They (youth) must have access to education so that they become resources for wealth creation," said Raila, stressing the need to empower the youth.