Odinga Under Fire Over Rigging Claims

The top security organ, the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC) said the ODM leader must apologize for dragging the military to political issues without any evidence.

The NSAC Chairman, Francis Kimemia said in a statement that Odinga must desist from inciting Kenyans through 'creative, inflammatory and false allegations' and should also have respect for institutions.

Kimemia in the statement said the military was never used in any polling/tallying station adding that this was the responsibility of the IEBC officials together with political party agents.

“This is the time to strengthen professionalism and not demonize institutions, especially now that we have a new Constitution in place,” Kimemia said.

Kimemia said that the 4th March 2013 General Election was one of the most peaceful and competitive election ever carried out in the history of Kenya and hence should be celebrated instead of issuing inflammatory comments that may lead to instability.

The demand by Kimemia followed a similar one by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) which asked Odinga to take full responsibility for the sensational remarks he made or provide evidence to support his claims that the military was used to rig last year’s General Election

The commission further described the allegations by Odinga as falsehoods meant to unnecessarily hype tension in the country.

“Issuing falsehoods must be deterred by all means within the law. Therefore, we challenge Raila Odinga to substantiate his claim or withdraw and apologize,” said the statement signed by the commission’s Communication and Corporate Affairs Manager, Tabitha Mutemi.

By Beth Nyaga