NASA principals Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Moses Wetang'ula and Musalia Mudavadi during a past function. [Photo|the-star.co.ke]
A presidential candidate in the August and October elections has broken his silence, two months after failing to clinch power in the two polls.
Prof Michael Wainaina has waded into the NASA versus Jubilee supremacy battle, openly expressing his admiration for the opposition's call for the 'peoples' assembly'.
"I particularly like the concept of the "peoples' assembly", but for different reasons from those proposed by NASA," he said.
In an opinion piece published by Saturday Nation, Wainaina said the assembly should be a platform for Kenyans to continuously and vigilantly be engaged in governance to hold those elected to account for the next five years.
"It's main purpose must be to enable people to participate in governance and to hold their elected leaders accountable," he said.
The former university don said the first business of the assembly must be to give life to the constitutional provision for recall of politicians.
"As easily as they were elected, we the people must have the power to recall them if accountability demands we do," he noted.
Wainaina, however, said his problem with the 'people's assembly' as conceived by the opposition led by Raila Odinga is that NASA bases it on the 'politics of subversion and agitation'.
"We have to realise that Kenya has moved from the era of subversion and agitation to the era of participation and accountability," the former presidential hopeful added.
Some 14 counties have already passed a motion for the formation of assemblies as NASA plans to swear in Raila as the president of the people's assembly next month.
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