I have no time for IEBC talks, Uhuru tells CORD

Speaking in Yatta on the first day of his three-day Ukambani region tour, President Kenyatta said his priority as the Head of State was not to engage in politics but initiate development projects to improve the lives of Kenyans.

 

 “I do not have time to engage CORD on IEBC talks because I do not have powers to do anything about it. If they are looking for solutions on the IEBC issue, they should go to Parliament,” he said.

 

Further, the President said overhauling IEBC would not guarantee CORD victory in the 2017 elections since leaders are elected by the people.

 

“Even if you remove all the commissioners in IEBC and replace them with your own people, you should know that it is Kenyans who elect leaders, not IEBC.”

 

The President said that he had no issue with CORD’s protests against IEBC, but warned the coalition supporters against engaging in acts of violence.

 

“They can hold protests as many times as they want, I do not have a problem with that; it is their Constitutional right. They should, however, make sure that they do not break the law during their demonstrations.”

 

The IEBC issue seemed to be headed for a resolution on Tuesday after President Kenyatta announced the formation of a Joint Select Committee of Parliament to meet a team from CORD to iron out the outstanding issues.

 

The President then proceeded to name 11 legislators on Wednesday to take part in the dialogue process, which was, however, thrown into disarray after CORD raised several issues over the process and instead named a four-member team.

CORD has insisted that pending a resolution of the stalemate through dialogue outside parliament, they will continue with their demonstrations on Monday and Thursday.

So far, at least 6 people have been killed and property worth millions of shillings destroyed during CORD’s protests that will be entering week six.