Kenya’s opposition sustain criticism against foreign envoys over contested presidency

Opposition leader Raila Odinga and his NASA counterparts have castigated foreign envoys for what they termed as taking sides in the ongoing political stand-off in the country. File Photo: Capital FM

By Fauxile Kibet

The Kenyan opposition party National Super Alliance (NASA) has accused foreign diplomats in the country of siding with the ruling Jubilee regime amidst rising political tension in the East African nation.

The opposition’s top leadership has accused the diplomats of “meddling” in Kenyan affairs following a statement released by US ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec and UK High Commissioner Nic Hailey urging the Kenyan opposition to accept the legitimacy of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government.

“The opposition must accept the decision of the Supreme Court to uphold the election of October 26^th that declared Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto as President and Deputy President,” the statement read in part.

But the opposition has ratcheted its accusations against the foreign envoys terming them ‘extremely unfortunate’.

“The diplomatic community have gone beyond acceptable call of duty and asked NASA to recognize Uhuru and Jubilee before any dialogue can take place. This statement was extremely unfortunate, uncalled for and verging on extortion,” NASA deputy Musalia Mudavadi said in a statement.

NASA leader Raila Odinga who swore himself in as the People’s president Tuesday told off the foreign envoys, asking them to “keep off Kenyan politics” saying that they were only interested in furthering the agenda of their countries but not democracy.

According to Odinga, the diplomats are only interested in furthering their countries’ agenda but not democracy.

“Kenya is an independent country and Kenyan problems will be resolved by the Kenyan people. They can only be but observers,” said Mr Odinga.

Mr Odinga’s Co-principal Musalia Mudavadi who spoke in Nairobi Tuesday also criticized the envoys saying that they were overstepping their mandate by urging the opposition to accept President Kenyatta’s legitimacy before diplomatic talks can be held.

UNDERMINING CONSTITUTION

The envoys however criticized the government for undermining the country’s institutions and fostering national disunity. The Kenyan government has in the past weeks been accused of ignoring court orders and going against the country’s law.

A few days ago, the government deported fiery Opposition activist Miguna Miguna despite court orders demanding that he be arraigned in court to face trial. The activist has however sued the Kenyan government for “violating his rights” arguing that he was born in Kenya and has never renounced his citizenship.

On Monday, the country’s attorney general Githu Muigai resigned from office in what has been seen as political analysts as an indirect sacking.

The attorney general has appeared to struggle over the months with government’s actions at times being called out by the courts for acting outside the constitution.