Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has come to terms with the defeat in Msambweni where ODM candidate Omar Boga lost to Feisal Bader who enjoyed the support of Deputy President William Ruto.
Speaking during an interview with KTN’s Ken Mijungu on his premier News Hour show on Wednesday, December 16, Odinga stated that ODM was doing an analysis of the by-election and would announce the results.
He accused Bader’s team of bribing voters during the election day which was marred with chaos.
Odinga also noted that despite vying on an independent ticket, the Msambweni MP-elect enjoyed the popularity of having been an ODM member.
“ODM lost to an independent candidate but you also need to know that this independent candidate was actually a member of ODM but he did not want to participate in the nomination exercise and chose to be independent,” the former MP stated.
He maintained that the party still enjoys massive support of the coastal people despite the Msambweni loss.
Odinga was also cornered to explain what the future of the BBI referendum was since he had alluded that Boga’s defeat would spell trouble for the initiative.
“I said BBI would have a problem in Msambweni, not the whole country,” he responded.
The ODM leader further criticised the IEBC for demanding a budget to verify the 4.4 million signatures submitted by the BBI secretariat.
“We shall now proceed and request a budget from the National Treasury. As soon as we get a budget from the exchequer we shall now get our team, the referendum committee, to verify the signatures. Of course, we shall not commence until we get a budget,” IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati explained while receiving the signatures on December 10.
Odinga argued that the electoral commission did not require extra funds for the exercise.
“They are in office and earning a salary every month but elections are every five years, so what is it they do in the office every day?” the ODM leader wondered.
“Why do they need money to verify a signature? They need to use what they have,” he suggested.
Responding to accusations that corruption suspects visited his Capitol Hill office for protection from prosecution, he stated “I would be the last person to try and cleanse people who are accused of corruption. What goes on in this country pains me a lot."
