Duale said it’s only through the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee will their grievances against the electoral body be addressed/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 28 – National Assembly Leader of Majority Aden Duale on Saturday dismissed a request by CORD leaders to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta over the ongoing IEBC stalemate.
Duale said it’s only through the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee will their grievances against the electoral body be addressed and not through a meeting with the President or protests.
“If you want to go and meet the President and have a cup of tea that is your business. He is the President of all Kenya,” he said.
“If you want to deal with IEBC, you have no choice. You can demonstrate and picket for years but the only way you can remove an IEBC commissioner is only through Article 251.”
The Leader of Majority said the Jubilee Government was ready to carry on with the electoral debate but within the procedures enshrined in the law.
He said CORD need to change their strategy instead of shifting blames to constitutional commissions when they fail to achieve their goals.
“Every time a team loses, they cannot change the referee which is the culture in Kenya. That’s why I am a fan of Manchester United,” he said.
“We (Manchester United) just signed our coach two years ago but we have a new one. The CORD coalition must look at who is their manager…it is the Kenyan people who vote.”
CORD has since called off their weekly protests until June after pressure from religious leaders and fears that the campaign to eject electoral commissioners could lose popular support because of the violence.
“If no word comes from Jubilee by June 5th, we will prove to the world what really demonstrations mean,” Senators Johnson Muthama had warned.
Similar sentiments have been made by Deputy President William Ruto, who asked the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy to respect the Constitution while calling for reforms within the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission.
The Deputy President William Ruto also added his voice saying President Uhuru Kenyatta has no powers to disband the electoral body since his, “hands are tied by the Constitution.”
He however says the Government is ready for dialogue, though it has to be through the Constitutional means.
He said Parliament where all Kenyans are represented was the best place to hold talks.
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