Vitalis Kimutai and Peter Atsiaya
10 February 2008
Nairobi — ODM has reaffirmed its commitment to the ongoing mediation but declared it would go for nothing short of the presidency.
Party leader, Mr Raila Odinga, led 43 MPs in stating they would not relent in efforts to capture the presidency, which was allegedly stolen from them.
Speaking during the burial of the slain former Ainamoi MP, David Kimutai Too, in Kericho District, on Saturday, the MPs reiterated their commitment to the mediation talks.
They also said they would not betray the trust Kenyans have entrusted on them.
"We have accepted to talk with PNU but we assure our supporters we will not settle for a solution that betrays their cause," Raila said.
He said ODM was aware that millions of Kenyans who voted for him and the party MPs would not accept to be short-changed by PNU in the talks.
Raila also urged Kenyans to give Mr Kofi Annan's team a chance to resolve the political crisis.
He added that Kibaki and other PNU leaders were resisting pressure to relinquish power which, he said, they acquired illegally.
"If Kenyans managed to successfully fight the British Empire and freed the country from the colonial yoke, Kibaki and his foot soldiers will be defeated and when all is settled, this whole thing will look like a storm in a tea cup," he said.
Raila also said normalcy would not return unless justice was done, adding that mediation efforts should be based on peace and justice.
"Too's killing was not as a result of a love triangle as was bandied around by the police who were ill-bent on covering the fact that it was a political assassination. Too's spilled blood will not be in vain as it will be the driving force in our quest for justice," he said.
Raila criticised the police commissioner, Major Gen Hussein Ali for going public on the love triangle angle before investigations were launched into the MP's killing.
Too was gunned down by a traffic police officer in Eldoret a week ago.
In search of justice
Saturday's funeral service was held at Chepkoiyo Primary School grounds. Speaker of the National Assembly Mr Kenneth Marende, his deputy Mr Farah Maalim, ODM pentagon members Mr Musalia Mudavadi, Mr William Ruto and Mr Najib Balala were present. Ruto said nothing would stop ODM and its followers from getting justice.
"Change comes through struggle and ODM supporters should not relent in their fight for their deserved victory," said the Eldoret North MP.
He said they adequately represented ODM supporters at the Kofi Annan-led mediation talks. He assured that the party would have a say in the final decision.
The Eldoret North MP said the political crisis was an opportunity to create a new political dispensation in the country and correct historical and present injustices.
Ruto said there was need to enact a new constitution that would put in place structures that would ensure the country would not witness similar chaos brought about by disputed presidential vote tally. Changing of the Constitution, he said, was part of the resolutions ODM had presented to the Annan-led team as a solution to the crisis.
Mudavadi said PNU initially believed that outrage from the stolen elections would be short lived but were shocked that Kenyans soldiered on despite Government's use of excessive force on innocent people. He said Kenya was on an international spotlight and that a lasting solution needed to be found to unite Kenyans and restore the country's dignity.
Nyong'o said there was need for a transitional government to be put in place.
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Raila is the most dangerous person in Kenya today. He advocated violence against other Kenyans calling them "enemies"- no wonder they were cleansed and massacred. Remember his 1982 coup participation? He will agree to Annan mission and flip afterwards and at that time people from north eastern, eastern, central will rebell against him, fter all kikuyu, meru, kamba, embu have maumau experience. Raila is playing with fire.
Steve, California
Thanks steve for your note on Raila, One Dangerous Man. He used the Majimbo Card in the campaigns, which meant to the communities in the Rift Valley and elsewhere the ejection of "foreigners". I wonder if the US and UK, his supporters are aware of the kind of person they are dealing with. Or they are are posing a blind eye so they can achieve their interests in the country. Only God knows what would have happened if he became President. We would have been killed supervised by the police; We thank Almighty God it did not happen. His cry wolf of rigging elections has just been a stage managed affair before and after the polls on KTN television. I think now people are seeing that, Hi, Moi was a saint. A really God fearing man, but faced with challenges. I fervently beseech Jesus on Kenya.
Raila Odinga, the master mind of murders carried out against the Kikuyu people by the Luo and all ODM supporters, should be put in prison, where he belongs.
Raila Odinga is responsible for more than 1000 murders and displacement of more than 1 million people.
Raila Odinga should not be given any more opportunities to lie to the Kenyans or to the people of the world.
Britain is no longer blaming the Kenyan government for the violence engineered by Raila Odinga. France is no blaming the Kenyan government for the violence engineered by Raila Odinga, the ODM leader in Kenya.
This move by the British and the French is a positive move to restoring peace in Kenya. The damage done to the country and people of Kenya will take many years and generations of innocent children to repair.
RAILA HAD ALREADY THREATENED THAT IF HE DOES NOT WIN, HE WOULD CAUSE GENOCIDE. RAILA ODINGA IS CARRYING OUT HIS THREAT, AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT RAILA HAS CARRIED OUT ASSAULT ON THE GOVERNMENT OF KENYA. IN 1982, RAILA CAUSED A COUP THAT FINALLY FAILED, BUT SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE KILLED. RAILA IS USING FORCE TO DISRUPT THE STABLE GOVERNMENT OF KENYA, BUT HIS CONCERNS ARE JUST HIS DEADLY SELFISHNESS.
Does the internatinal comunity recognise the goverment you clain is clean. Britain S.A and so on......
Raila Odinga, the master mind of murders carried out against the Kikuyu people by the Luo and all ODM supporters, should be put in prison, where he belongs.
Odinga should be tried as a war criminal.
The world should stop catering to Odinga’s selfish qualms.
Raila Odinga is responsible for more than 1000 murders and displacement of more than 1 million people.
Raila Odinga should not be given any more opportunities to lie to the Kenyans or to the people of the world.
Britain is no longer blaming the Kenyan government for the violence engineered by Raila Odinga. France is no blaming the Kenyan government for the violence engineered by Raila Odinga, the ODM leader in Kenya.
This move by the British and the French is a positive move to restoring peace in Kenya. The damage done to the country and people of Kenya will take many years and generations of innocent children to repair.
RAILA HAD ALREADY THREATENED THAT IF HE DOES NOT WIN, HE WOULD CAUSE GENOCIDE. RAILA ODINGA IS CARRYING OUT HIS THREAT, AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT RAILA HAS CARRIED OUT ASSAULT ON THE GOVERNMENT OF KENYA. IN 1982, RAILA CAUSED A COUP THAT FINALLY FAILED, BUT SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE KILLED. RAILA IS USING FORCE TO DISRUPT THE STABLE GOVERNMENT OF KENYA, BUT HIS CONCERNS ARE JUST HIS DEADLY SELFISHNESS.
The effort of restoring peace in Kenya can be credited to Kofi Annan, Mwai Kibaki, and the government of Kenya.
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON. JARAMOGI OGINGA ODINGA, RAILA'S FATHER DID THE SAME THING AGAINST PRESIDENT KENYATTA. HE WAS BEING SUPPORTED BY COMMUNIST COUNTRIES. RAILA IS PRETENDING TO BE A CAPITALIST. THE EAST AFRICAN STANDARD NEWSPAPER OF KENYA HAS BECOME THE MOUTH PIECE THAT RAILA IS USING TO FAN HIS TRIBAL SENTIMENTS AND EMOTIONS. RAILA HAS DONE NOTHING TO KIBERA RESIDENTS WHO LIVE IN ABJECT POVERTY BECAUSE HE WANT THEIR POVERTY TO BE THE LURE TO BE USED FOR HIM AT WILL AS HIS TOOLS. HE TOLD THEM THAT THEY WOULD NOT PAY RENT ANYMORE. HE TOLD THE KALENJINS THAT THEY WOULD NOT PAY TAXES. HE DID NOT CARE ABOUT THE WELFARE OF KENYA AS HE HAS ALREADY RECEIVED HIS PAYMENTS FROM HIS MASTERS. YOU DO NOT NEED TO GO FAR TO KNOW WHO THE MASTERS ARE. DIDN'T HE MENTION SOME OF THEM LATELY? DID JARAMOGI DO ANYTHING FOR NYANZA? HE WANTED TO BE PRESIDENT FOR JUST 5 MINUTES AT ONE TIME. RAILA WANT TO BE PRESIDENT AT THE COST OF DEAD KENYANS. HE TALKED OF MAJIMBO AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT WE SAID BEFORE WHAT MAJIMBO MEANS TO KENYANS; HATRED AND PEOPLE LIVING IN THEIR BALKANIZED AREAS AND THAT IS WHAT WE DID NOT WANT. WHETHER HE WON OR LOST THEY HAD THAT PLAN OF BALKANIZING KENYA. EVERYBODY IS NOW SUFFERING. HE NEEDS TO BALKANIZE HIMSELF AND RULE IDA ODINGA AND HIS MISTRESSES BUT NOT KENYA.
KENYANS, SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO BUY THE STANDARD/ EAST AFRICAN STANDARD?
THE WHOLE WORLD SAW THE BLUE PRINT THAT LISTED THE FINANCIERS AND THE PLANNING OF ETHNIC CLEANSING THAT RAILA AND ODM ORCHESTRATED. RAILA ODINGA BEING A PUPPET OF THE WEST DOES NOT NEED TO LEAD KENYA. WE DO NOT NEED TO HAVE AN IMPOSED LEADER LIKE WE STILL TAKE ORDERS FROM BRITAIN AND ELSEWHERE.
STOP BUYING THE STANDARD AND EAST AFRICAN STANDARD AND ITS AFFILIATES.
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When one has taken goods or property that belongs to another whether by violence or by cunning, all of which adds up to theft, for the forgiveness of the culptit he or she needs to return what was stolen. One who holds fast to stolen goods excludes himself or herself from the possiblity of being forgiven even if he or she is blessed by a thousand pastors the curse corresponding to the theft stays as long as the goods are kept. It is absurd to expect to enjoy the ill gotten goods or power or woman or man and still be blessed by God, it does not work that way, thief has to return what he stole.....