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Nairobi: Ignore Police Summons, ODM Leaders Tell Raila

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  • Nairobi: Ignore Police Summons, ODM Leaders Tell Raila

    IGNORE POLICE SUMMONS, ODM LEADERS TELL RAILA

    Daily Nation , Kenya
    Nov 13 2006

    Key Orange Democratic Movement leaders yesterday asked Lang'ata MP
    Raila Odinga to defy police summons to record a statement over claims
    that his life was in danger.

    The leaders, among them 26 MPs, demanded that the Government first
    assures all Kenyans of their security before pursuing individuals it
    perceives to be its opponents.

    Mr Odinga

    Among those who spoke at an ODM rally at Kapkatet in Bureti District
    were Mr Odinga himself, Kanu chairman Uhuru Kenyatta, secretary-general
    William Ruto, Mwingi North MP Kalonzo Musyoka and former vice-president
    Musalia Mudavadi.

    The ODM leaders spoke as Mr Odinga was challenged by Cabinet ministers
    Musikari Kombo and Njenga Karume over his assassination plot claims.

    Politicising security

    Speaking to reporters after meeting Ford Kenya officials in Nakuru,
    Mr Kombo, the minister for Local Government, told Mr Odinga that the
    country had gone beyond the era of assassinations.

    "If Mr Odinga is aware of any such move he should have handled it
    in a better manner ... he should not to be sensational about it,"
    the minister said and cautioned politicians against politicising
    security matters.

    Mr Musyoka

    He said Ford Kenya was also concerned about insecurity in parts of the
    country and called on the relevant ministries to address the matter.

    Defence minister Karume told Mr Odinga to substantiate his claims
    that some top Government officials were plotting to kill him. Mr
    Karume said a group of MPs from Nyanza who first made the "wild
    allegations" should also substantiate their claims or face action
    for making alarming statements.

    The Government would not sit and watch as leaders made utterances
    that could plunge the country into chaos, he said.

    "If these MPs know who is plotting to kill Mr Odinga they should
    furnish the Government with names. We are fed up with cat and mouse
    games. These are serious allegations and must be substantiated,"
    Mr Karume said.

    But Mr Odinga said it did not make sense to ask him to record a
    statement over information he had about the alleged assassination
    plot while the Government was yet to act on information he gave on
    the alleged mercenaries, the Artur brothers.

    Mr Kenyatta.

    He said: "A commission of inquiry instituted on the Armenians after
    I raised the alarm has not yielded anything and the police now want
    me to record a statement", to which the crowd roared back that he
    should not record one.

    Earlier before the rally, Mr Odinga told the Nation in an interview
    that he would record a statement today at Kilimani Police Station.

    He said: "The provincial criminal investigations officer called me
    in the morning and we have agreed that I record a statement tomorrow
    at 10 am."

    Mr Odinga said police had on Saturday been sent to his rural home in
    Bondo to look for him.

    "I received a call this morning (yesterday) that police were looking
    for me in my Bondo home while I was in Kisumu," he said.

    The ODM leaders argued that it was the responsibility of the Head
    of State to marshal the necessary security forces to counter growing
    insecurity.

    Mr Musyoka, who spoke before Mr Odinga, said: "I am telling my
    brother Raila that before he writes any statement, let the police
    arrest those who shot at the car which Mrs Nyong'o was travelling in."

    A car in which the wife of Kisumu Rural MP Anyang' Nyong'o was
    travelling, was shot at in Nairobi last week.

    Mr Musyoka added: "The police should also explain the purpose of 10
    of them who came to my house claiming there was a robbery recently."

    He told Mr Odinga to remain steadfast and resist any attempts by
    the police to force him to record a statement saying "kaa ngumu
    (stand firm)".

    Mr Odinga on Saturday issued a statement saying there were plans
    to assassinate him, backing an earlier statement by a group of MPs
    that a move had been hatched to eliminate politicians opposed to
    the Government.

    He said a meeting was held in the Kilimani area by eight senior
    government officials and a person who "resembled" one of the deported
    Armenian brothers.

    Speakers at the rally said it was hypocritical for the Government
    to tell Mr Odinga to record a statement while it had never concluded
    investigations into the Armenians.

    Mr Kenyatta asked President Kibaki to move fast and restore security
    in the country.

    "We are not fighting the President but we are assisting him to offer
    Kenyans the peace and security that they deserve and what they actually
    voted him to do," Mr Kenyatta said.

    The Gatundu South MP said ODM's sole purpose was to unite Kenyans to
    bring new leadership and it was the work of the Opposition to check
    the Government."We (Kanu) were hounded out of office because we were
    told that we were corrupt, but corruption has never reached the point
    it is now in the country since independence," he said.

    Mr Kenyatta decried tribalism and urged the youth to unite beyond
    tribal lines.

    Mr Ruto said that ODM meant to bring better leadership for Kenyans
    and it was not in any way meant to fight the Government of President
    Kibaki.
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