Kenya: Defiant Raila Odinga demands for fresh polls within 6 months

National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga has called for a third presidential poll within six months.

The Opposition leader was speaking during an interview in the no-holds-barred Hard talk programme of the British Broadcasting Corporation hosted by Zeinab Badawi.

“Uhuru Kenyatta does not have legitimacy because in the October 26 elections only less than 20 per cent of registered voters turned up. We want a third election, according to our timetable by August 2018,” Raila said.

According to Standard Media, in the three-minutes clip of the interview, Raila took a turnabout on his January 18 remarks during an interview on Voice of America (VOA).

He had told VOA that the Opposition was mooting plans to form a cabinet after his January 30 swearing-in, insisting he was ready to do it even in exile.

“We can even be a government in exile, one that works from outside. It has happened in other countries. What we are saying is that Kenyans can no longer allow an illegitimate government not elected by the people to rule them. We will work like a government, we will form a Cabinet and we will work as a government,” Raila said in the Swahili interview.

Barely a week after the now controversial swearing-in, Raila told Badawi he had no plans of forming a cabinet but will create a people’s convention to deliberate on issues from the regional assemblies.

“I did not say we will appoint ministers. What I meant to say is we have set it out very clearly that we started out with forming the people’s assemblies in various regions and we have had basically meetings and they have passed resolutions which will be taken to the people’s convention,” he said in a stern voice.

Moments after Raila Odinga’s swearing-in on January 30 at Uhuru Park, Cabinet Secretary for Interior Fred Matiang’i announced that Government had commenced a probe into the swearing amidst reports that Raila could face treason charges.