A section of National Super Alliance (NASA) Leaders drawn from the Coastal region have threatened to push for secession if an illegitimate election is held on October 26th.
Speaking while addressing opposition supporters at Rabai and Kaloleni the leaders stated that secession will enable the region to have self-rule which will, in turn, lead to massive development.
Kilifi North Legislator Owen Baya explained that if President Uhuru Kenyatta is elected illegitimately they will push for secession.
“Our Constitution allows secession and we will push for the bill to enable us to govern ourselves to end the numerous historical injustices that had persisted since Independence,” he stated.
Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi on his part dismissed claims that the Opposition was not ready for the repeat poll stating that they were ready but will not participate in a contest where the playing field is not level.
[caption caption="File image of Governor Amason Kingi"]
[/caption]
“Our aim is to push for reforms at the IEBC after the Supreme Court nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta’s August 8 re-election on the basis of irregularities and illegalities.
“We ‘NASA’ supporters are ready to go for election anytime but we cannot allow the election to be presided over by an electoral agency that has already taken sides,” Governor Kingi stated.
Regarding participation in next week's repeat election, the governor stated: “You have a choice to do what is right by avoiding being a project of a sham election.”
Speaking in reference to IEBC Commissioner Roselyn Akombe's resignation, Ganze Legislator Teddy Mwambire mentioned that the residents of Ganze will not participate in any poll unless their demands are implemented.
Earlier this week, Opposition Leader Raila Odinga, in an interview with the Financial Times, stated that he did not support the calls for secession but noted that the current political situation in the country had sparked a critical debate that would force such a division.
[caption caption="File image of NASA Leader Raila Odinga, Governor Kingi and other NASA Leaders"]
[/caption]
“I do not support the secession, but you have seen disintegration happened in many countries in eastern Europe. This debate in Kenya is gaining currency as a result of poor governance as Kenyans now feel they have been completely disenfranchised,” he noted.
“We’re clearly in a political environment that could start hurtling downhill, and it could go in any direction. The country is very divided, and when people become desperate, they resort to desperate measures,” he stated.
He also blamed the calls for secession on the ethnic discrimination in the country stating that for too long, power has been dominated by two communities.
