Odinga gives President Kenyatta leadership ‘lecture’

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy leader Raila Odinga on Sunday night took to NTV to ‘lecture’ President Uhuru Kenyatta on what he needs to do as the Head of State in order to move the country forward.

Odinga highlighted pressing issues that needs to be tackled by the President of Kenyatta among them corruption which he says places Kenya at the top of the most corrupt countries in Africa.

He also noted that issues of insecurity are not being handled with care and there is a need to secure Kenyan borders as well as creating an exit strategy for Kenyan soldiers currently in Somalia.

Odinga further noted that if he was the Head of State, he would work on strengthening democratic institutions like the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to make them effective in their operations.

The ODM party leader further castigated Jubilee coalition for using the ‘tyranny of numbers’ in the National Assembly to shoot down progressive motions tabled by members of CORD coalition.

He warned that the coalition will go to court if President Kenyatta ascends to a bill recently passed by Parliament that would see the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission CEO Halake Waqo and his deputy sent packing.

The CORD leader regretted that firing EACC bosses will render the commission inoperable and cancel the on-going investigations against individuals accused of corruption.

Odinga further rubbished allegations that the opposition was causing unrest in the country ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit saying there is nothing in the country that Obama does not know about.

“Cases of corruption and ethnicity in Kenya are not new to Obama. When he was speaking at the Taifa Hall at the University of Nairobi in 2006, he mentioned that corruption was a serious issue in Africa but it was a crisis in Kenya,” said Odinga.

“He also pointed out that his father (Barack Obama Senior) suffered while in the country due to issues of ethnicity.”

Odinga expressed willingness to meet the US President when he visits the country if granted an appointing, though adding that they will not be talking to him about local issues.

“We will not be talking to Obama about our local problems because we can deal with them internally. We would be glad to meet with him if granted an appointment.”

Odinga was speaking during a Sunday night interview on NTV.