Opposition coalition Cord has declined an invite by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) to attend a two-day summit on elections.
The Cord co-principals claim that Kepsa is an affiliate of Jubilee Party.
Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale has criticised the move by Minority Whip Thomas Mwadeghu to send all Cord MPs a text message to boycott the event, saying it was similar to the opposition endorsing election-related violence.
The elections summit will be held from Friday, December 2 at Leisure Lodge Resort, Mombasa.
“We do not view your Organisation, Kepsa, as having the requisite impartiality to lead a national non-partisan discourse on the topics under discussion. We view Kepsa as an appendage of the Jubilee administration,” Cord co-principals Raila Odinga, Moses Wetangula and Kalonzo Musyoka said in a joint letter sent to chief executive Carole Kariuki.
“Our country is crying for honest and credible referees on the way to 2017 elections. We do not view Kepsa as such a referee,” they said.
Cord leaders faulted Kepsa for limiting the summit’s theme to “peaceful elections” and ignoring “credible election” part, which they said, was critical.
They accused the organisation of ignoring the opposition as a legitimate entity with meaningful contribution to national development.
“You have never shown interest in our public engagements on our programmes beyond cosmetic appearance at best and you have not treated the Opposition as a legitimate entity with meaningful contribution to our national development,” they said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, members of Parliament and representatives of members of the county assemblies were also invited to the meeting.