Last week, Raila Odinga, reiterated that he won the 2007 elections fair and square.
Speaking to Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan on Head to Head, Raila said that an exit poll by the International Republican Institute (IRI), showed that he had won the election conclusively but the poll could not be published due to interference by ‘powerful forces’.
Raila’s sentiments came despite vote rigging allegations on both sides in 2007. He said that he did not know of his party then engaging in voter bribery.
On the possible role in quelling the violence in 2007 and despite the calls of ‘No Raila no peace’ in the disdained 2007 suffrage, Raila said that the police were to blame for the chaos and the aftermath thereof.
The opposition leader’s pronouncements from the past seemingly came back to haunt him as Hasan took him through his political journey since 2007.
On the failed ICC cases, Raila blamed the ICC for not taking Deputy President William Ruto and his co-accused through the full trial. This is despite saying that witness tampering was evident. He added that he saw no evidence warranting Ruto’s arraignment at the ICC.
Raila said ODM did not organise ‘any kind’ of violence and laid the blame squarely on the Party of National Unity (PNU) which Kibaki vied on.
The Cord leader said that he has no regrets over the 2007 post-election violence.
Regarding the 2013 election, Raila insisted he was robbed of his victory again despite institutions like the Carter Centre and other election observers saying the election was fair.
Raila was taken to task over his utterances regarding ‘taking the bullet’ but he said that the media misquoted him and misrepresented the facts.
He added that he will boycott the elections next year if the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is not reformed.
And true to his word, his sustained campaign against the constitutional office shows he is working round the clock to have another team take over at the IEBC.
The IEBC has also started hitting back, even threatening to block Cord form participating in the election if they do not follow the right procedures in pushing for its disbandment.
Speaking to The Standard, IEBC Chair Isaack Hassan said: “We will bar them from participating in the election if they persist on intimidating the commission against the law. You can quote me on that. We will bar them.”
He further dismissed the opposition’s threat to boycott the 2017 polls saying elections were voluntary and that Cord was free to keep off if it so wished.
“We are neither stupid nor naïve. We know how powerful and ruthless the political class can get if they zero in on you. If they outsmart us within the confines of the law, we will honourably walk out with our heads high,” he stated.