Raila explains why he took oath as People's President at Uhuru Park

dennis kibet

February 21, 2018 4:04 PM

Raila told thousands of Zimbabweans at Harare why he swore himself in on January 30.

NASA leader Raila Odinga has explained why he took the oath as the Peoples President on January 30 at the historic Uhuru Park.

Speaking before thousands of mourners at Harare, Zimbabwe during the funeral of opposition leader Morgan Tsavingirai, Odinga revealed the main reason why he took the oath and swore himself in.

"Rigged elections will not help Africa. They are held to perpetuate dictatorship and mediocrity in our continent. That is why recently i decided to take an oath clearly to say 'this far we go we will not go further down. We must stand for proper elections that are held transparently and the results confirm how the people voted," Odinga declared.

Transparent elections

He called on the African continent to rise to the occasion and stand for proper elections that are held with transparency.

He likened his struggles to that of the late Tsvangirai.

Odinga told the thousands of mourners that Tsvangirai's election victory was stolen a year after his was stolen in Kenya that resulted in the 2007/2008 post election violence.

"His election victory was stolen. He agreed to sacrifice his victory in order to save Zimbabwe. He became one of the leading icons of the second liberation of Africa," Odinga added

Diplomatic community

The move by Odinga earned him strong critics by the diplomatic community led by the United States.

In a strongly worded statement by the State Department, the US said it was gravely concerned by Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga’s self-“inauguration”.

It further said that the US rejects all actions that undermines Kenya's Constitution and the rule of law saying that Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as President of Kenya on October 26, 2017 in a poll that was upheld by Kenya’s Supreme Court.

The State Department urged all grievances held by Odinga's team to be resolved through appropriate legal mechanisms.

Raila Off to Zimbabwe

dennis kibet