Raila not being honest with push to open servers - Mudavadi says

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has termed Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party’s demands that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) servers be opened for verification of the August 2022 presidential poll results as fictitious and dishonest.

Mudavadi, speaking on Saturday in his Sabatia backyard, Vihiga County, said the Azimio wing led by opposition chief Raila Odinga is hoodwinking Kenyans to believe that the elections were not free and fair.

“The Azimio side took their petition to the Supreme Court and presented its evidence as stipulated under the law. In its directive the Supreme Court ordered and authorized the opening of servers to verify if what was tallied at Bomas reflected the exact results transmitted from the polling centres,” said Mudavadi.

“It is on record that both the Azimio lawyers and their Kenya Kwanza counterparts accompanied the Registrar of the Supreme Court through this exercise. Raila is forgetting that what he is asking for now was granted to him long time ago.”

He added: “Raila is not being honest at all. The persistence in the quest of opening the servers triggers a lot of questions. What is this they had hidden in the servers?”

Mudavadi poked holes into Azimio’s stand on the quest to go back to the streets after Ramadhan, saying Odinga and his troops have reluctantly disregarded the spirit of the Constitution and the rule of law and become enemies of progress.

“In democracy you have to agree there is a moment you will win and there is a moment you will lose. Even for Raila, if you are a true democrat respect the will and wishes of the people of Kenya. You cannot all the time, on every election season say that something has gone wrong,” he said.

“You had a chance, in fact the best chance of your career. You and your supporters had the Deep State as you pronounced then. Kenyans made a decisive decision and voted for President William Ruto. What we are asking you is, who handed over the instruments of power to Ruto? If it was not your Chairman for Azimio then confess to Kenyans whom it was.”

The Prime Cabinet Secretary stated that Kenyans are not persuaded with the call for demonstrations at this time in the pretense of agitating about the high cost of living.

He added that what Kenya Kwanza is working on is to seize this opportunity to unite Kenyans and work towards the resuscitation of the economy.

Mudavadi hence called on Odinga to be candid enough and face Kenyan families and individuals who have lost loved ones and property and tell them who will compensate them at this time and period when the economy is at its lowest hit.

“This call for dialogue is a sign of the realization by Raila and Azimio that they cannot bail out those who have been charged as a result of the demonstrations. Economic sabotage is what we are witnessing in the few towns where demonstrations are being staged,” he stated.

“They have realized that you have to fund maandamano. What we are asking Raila, how unfair are you, that you can’t contribute even a cent to the owners whose property has been destroyed through maandamano?”

Mudavadi pleaded further with Kenyans that it is time to work and build the nation, calling upon the leadership at all levels, from the opposition and government, to have a common understanding of the tough times Kenyans are going through and resolve to serve the people.

“Let us keep aside our political differences. Elections are over. The constitutional timelines put the next general elections to 2027. Observers came, IGAD, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and others, their resolve was the process was undertaken democratically and the chapter for elections is closed.” said Mudavadi.

He called for genuine dialogue that is structured and anchored on the spirit of benefiting the common mwananchi and not for self interest and political gain.

He also emphasized that every life and property matters, and that the spirit of cohesion and togetherness is what should bond Kenyans towards the realization of the big goal of economic empowerment.

“In this spirit, we are working on the Kenya Kwanza manifesto. We have to implement what we promised Kenyans. We can’t implement Azimio’s agenda. Even in the U.S, Biden is not implementing Trump’s policies,” Mudavadi remarked.

He further revealed that President William Ruto will soon be visiting Vihiga County to commission and open a number of development projects among them initiating the completion of key roads that will be upgraded to tarmac.