NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 2 – The leader of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy Raila Odinga has challenged the government to be honest and stop lying to Kenyans over the oppressive Media Bill approved by Parliament on Thursday.
Odinga accused Attorney General Githu Muigai of lying to Kenyans that his office is waiting to see the Hansard report on what was presented to Parliament when in fact the Government knew when it took to the House.
“All Government Bills originate from the Cabinet, which is chaired by the President. It is the Cabinet which clears the Bills for presentation for debate in the National Assembly. It is therefore dishonest for the AG to claim that the Government did not know what was being taken for debate,” Odinga said.
“Those asking President Uhuru Kenyatta not to sign the Bill into law equally miss the point. The fact is that the President cleared this Bill in the form in which it was passed. We can only ask him to have a change of heart and refuse to sign it because it is bad for the country and goes against the Constitution,” he added.
The CORD leader said that a Bill presented and defended in the House by the Leader of the Majority cannot be said to have escaped the scrutiny of the Cabinet, which includes the President and the AG, unless something is seriously amiss in government.
Odinga was speaking in Busia during the burial of former intelligence officer Aloice Okinda in Murende village, Busia County.
Odinga said the oppressive media Bill falls into the category of several ongoing attempts to abort the new Constitution and take the country back to the old order, adding that Kenyans will resist such moves.
He said Police reforms have effectively stalled because they are being undermined by those who want to restore the old order.
The former PM appealed to Members of County Assemblies to reach a deal with the Salaries and Review Commission adding that even the stand-off between the two bodies is being fuelled by those out to show that the new Constitution, with its freedoms and limitations on Central Government, is nothing but chaos.
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