NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 19 – Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said he will not stop commenting about a petition before the Supreme Court challenging Uhuru Kenyatta’s declaration as president.
Reacting to President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta’s statement on Tuesday that he should wait for the verdict on the presidential petition and desist from politicising the process, Odinga said the case was of political nature and he was free to comment on it.
“My brother Uhuru Kenyatta has challenged me not to politicise the petition but of course am not politicising the case because we are talking about a political office that is under dispute. (However) I will not be talking about the content of the case which is now before the court because that is sub-judice,” Odinga stated.
Speaking after touring Kenya Ports Authority facilities in Mombasa earlier on Tuesday, Kenyatta said the Prime Minister’s remarks on the issue were ill-timed because he has already filed a case in court.
“People need to respect courts and stop talking on issues which are before courts,” said Kenyatta who added that he was ready to respect the ruling on the case.
He was responding to Odinga’s remarks on Monday when the PM claimed to have won the March 4 election by 5.7 million votes against Kenyatta’s 4.7 million votes.
Odinga made the claim days after he filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the declaration by the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) which handed the victory certificate to Kenyatta.
But speaking after meeting ODM leaders elected in Nairobi County, Odinga urged Kenyatta to desist from acting as if he was already sworn in as president and also await the ruling of the Supreme Court.
He said as far as they were concerned, the instruments of power were still with President Mwai Kibaki and he should stop using State resources such as motorcades and aircraft.
“Don’t behave as if you are already a president in office; that itself violates the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya,” he said.
The government has defended the use of State resources and security briefings to President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, saying it is within the law.
Government Spokesman Muthui Kariuki is on record saying the move is not illegal under the Assumption of Office Act Section 9.
He said the president-elect is in order to receive briefings from State security organs.
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