{UAH} Ocen, WBK// Raila mocks Jubilee over insecurity

Folks;

It's easy to accuse Raila here of seeking vindication over widespread insecurity in the country, but, to his credit, Raila had singled out security as one of the main reasons for his plea with the Jubilee government for a bipartisan way forward to address this crisis.

So, in a sense, we've come to an " I Told You So!" moment, where the very eventuality Raila had tried to avert has arrived.

Pojim

http://standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000141214/raila-jubilee-paying-for-rejecting-talks-with-cord

Raila Odinga mocks Jubilee over insecurity

By Geoffrey Mosoku Updated Thursday, November 13th 2014 at 00:00 GMT +3

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Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga (second right) during his tours of Kibera projects in Nairobi which he initiated as Prime Minister. [PHOTO: GOVEDI ASUTSA/STANDARD]

Kenya: Opposition leader Raila Odinga argues the serious challenges facing the country are a direct consequence of President Uhuru Kenyatta's rejection of national dialogue with his team.

Raila says the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) had sought to sit down with the Jubilee government to help seek solutions to spiralling insecurity, high cost of living and unemployment among others but its efforts were thwarted.

 

The leader of the Orange Democratic Movement, which is an affiliate of CORD, likened Jubilee's rejection of national dialogue, in his characteristic riddle narratives, to a zebra that had refused to talk to a donkey on grounds that the donkey was ugly, even though they were both from the same species.

Raila said when the donkey met the zebra on a second encounter; the zebra was down with a serious flu and coughing heavily from the infection.

"The donkey then said, last time I asked you to talk to me but you refused. That time I wanted to remove that tick that has now put you down. And what you are witnessing in the country is similar to this offer for help that was rejected, and now insecurity is everywhere," Raila said.

Speaking in Kibra constituency, Nairobi, during a meet-the-people tour, the former Prime Minister criticised the Jubilee government over its handling of the insecurity crisis and highlighted the deployment of the military to Kapedo, Baringo County, before Parliament's approval.

Raila claimed the State had failed to provide solutions to security challenges, citing a state of emergency in parts of the country like Lamu where residents were under curfew.

The CORD chief singled out Marsabit, Kapedo, Lamu, Mpeketoni, Tana River, Turkana, Wajir and Mandera as areas that had witnessed insecurity under Jubilee, a coalition he charged had remained clueless on how to handle the crisis.

He also cited the high cost of living, unemployment and declining prices of agricultural commodities as some of the issues Jubilee failed to handle.

Burning issues

"The other day, farmers in some parts (of the country) were crying foul over the price of tea bonus, which had gone down from about Sh36 the previous year to Sh8, while the cost of living had gone up and rent increased," he said.

The CORD leader said the arrogance displayed by Jubilee had prompted them to call for a national referendum to address the burning issues the nation was grappling with.